PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Arizona restaurants and produce companies are getting slammed by skyrocketing tomato prices that have hit record highs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen it in 25 years in the history of the produce business,\u201d said Tony Wolkow, owner of Scottsdale Specialty<\/a>, a local produce company.<\/p>\n Tomato prices have spiked 50% within the last year, reaching the highest price per pound in nearly a decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n Wolkow said the cost increases have been outrageous, especially for tomatoes.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything across the board has just gone up. We got hit pretty hard this year in the produce business,\u201d Wolkow said.<\/p>\n He says that Roma tomatoes used to be $15 a case. They\u2019re now $60 to $70 a case. <\/p>\n Multiple factors drive shortage<\/p>\n Wolkow said a lot of his tomatoes come from Mexico and Florida. Both locations have been hit hard this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a freeze down in Florida two months ago and then the transition from winter crop to spring crop, that\u2019s what affected the shortage and the prices of tomatoes jumping,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tariffs on imports from Mexico, now at 17%, are adding to costs. Rising diesel prices, driven by energy shocks from the war in Iran, are increasing transportation costs.<\/p>\n The spike is squeezing local restaurants and small businesses that rely on produce from companies like Scottsdale Specialty.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard for some of the small businesses we deal with,\u201d Wolkow said.<\/p>\n Fruit and vegetable prices are up about 4%. Overall grocery store prices have risen 2.9% over the last year, with increases hitting produce, meats, and basic grocery items.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just going to have to bite the bullet and keep going. Everybody has to eat, so we\u2019re going to have to pay these prices,\u201d Wolkow said.<\/p>\n He said a way to avoid some of the rising costs is to buy local.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n