overview
The United States is one of the world's leading producers of tomatoes,
second only to China. Annual per capita use of fresh-market tomatoes
increased 15 percent between the early 1990s and the early 2000s to
nearly 18 pounds per person, while use in processed products declined
9 percent to 68 pounds (fresh-weight basis). Mexico and Canada are
important suppliers of fresh market tomatoes to the United States,
and Canada is the leading U.S. export market for fresh and processed
tomatoes. ERS analyzes both the U.S. fresh and processed tomato markets,
which together accounted for almost $2 billion in cash receipts during
the early 2000s.
contents
newsletter
Vegetables and Melons Outlook is
an electronic report, issued every other month in newsletter format,
featuring current intelligence and forecasts of changing conditions
in the U.S. vegetable and melon sectors. Topics include production
consumption, prices trade and more.
recommended readings
U.S. Fresh Produce Markets: Marketing
Channels, Trade Practices, and Retail Pricing Behavior synthesizes
results of a multiphase project that examined the dynamics of produce
markets, produce shipper-retailer relationships, and the relative
market influence of producers, retailers, and consumers. In the
past decade, retail consolidation, changing consumer demand, marketing
practices, and new technology have transformed U.S. fresh fruit
and vegetable markets. For additional information, see the ERS
produce markets project page in the Food Market Structures briefing
room.
Factors
Affecting Tomato Consumption in the United States uses a USDA
food intake survey to provide a demographic breakdown of who eats
tomatoes. Findings include the fact that per capita fresh tomato
consumption is greatest in the Northeast and West while processed
tomatoes are most popular in the West and Midwest.
How Much Do Americans Pay for Fruits
and Vegetables? uses ACNielsen Homescan data on 1999 household
food purchases from all types of retail outlets to estimate an annual
retail price per pound and per serving for 69 forms of fruits and
85 forms of vegetables. Consumers can meet the recommendation of
three servings of fruits and four servings of vegetables daily for
64 cents. The data used in
the report are also available in Excel (*.xls) spreadsheets.
See all recommended readings...
recommended data products
Tomatoes at a Glance contains
two popular tables (*.pdf format) summarizing key data on fresh-market
and processing tomatoes.
U.S.
Tomato Statistics provides over 115 time-series tables in downloadable
spreadsheet files (*.xls format) describing fresh and processing tomato
markets including acreage, yield, production, price, value, trade,
and per capita use. Also included are state-level production series.
U.S. Tomato Trade consists
of eight tables (*.pdf format) describing fresh and processing tomato
trade by major product and trade partner.
Vegetables
and Melons Yearbook contains 141 tables in downloadable spreadsheet
files (*.xls format) detailing 25 years of annual and monthly data
for U.S. acreage, production, prices, trade, per capita use, and
more.
related briefing rooms
Vegetable and melons
Potatoes
Food market structures
Organic farming and marketing
Mexico
Canada
questions and answers
Where do tomatoes rank among vegetables in value? Find the answer
to this and other commonly asked questions
about U.S. fresh and processed tomatoes.
related links
Links to other sites with economic information
about fresh and processed tomatoes.
for more information, contact:
Gary Lucier
web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
page updated: August 10,
2004
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