UglyRipe tomato's marketing gets backing in U.S. Senate

By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 05, 2005

The UglyRipe tomato might be bumpy, but it rode smoothly into the U.S. Senate on Friday wrapped in a bill of its very own.

Along with discussing Social Security reform and other big issues, senators will be considering granting the misshapen tomato a break.

Pennsylvania's two senators, Republicans Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and an influential member of Congress, and Rick Santorum, introduced legislation Friday that would exempt the tomatoes — grown by Procacci Brothers Sales Corp. of Philadelphia — from marketing restrictions that have kept them confined to Florida.

"It's amazing what lengths people will go to get their way," said Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee, the state group that enforces federal marketing orders governing tomatoes.

Brown said the Procacci firm doesn't want to go along with rules that apply to all other Florida round tomatoes. Procacci, which grows the UglyRipe under its Santa Sweets subsidiary in Florida, contends the UglyRipe is an heirloom tomato.

"Given the steadfast resistance on the part of the Florida Tomato Committee, this legislation is necessary," Santorum said in a statement. "I remain committed to promoting innovation within the agriculture industry."

In January, the Florida Tomato Committee voted to deny a request by Procacci for an exemption from the order, which sets roundness and other standards for field-grown Florida tomatoes. The UglyRipe is oddly shaped and has a ridged surface.

The UglyRipe is scheduled to be the first product considered under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's identity preservation program, said Leslie Gwinn, a Procacci spokeswoman. Under the program, the UglyRipe would be tested to see whether it is a hybrid of the round tomato or another variety entirely.

The Senate bill would exempt products in the USDA program from marketing orders. USDA spokesman George Chartier said discussions have begun about Procacci's use of the program for the UglyRipe.

If the bill becomes law, the measure would not affect the UglyRipe until the 2005-06 season, Gwinn said.

During the three seasons that the committee allowed the UglyRipe to be shipped from the state without restriction, 72 percent of the UglyRipes made the required No. 2 grade without any special exception, Brown said.

Fans of the UglyRipe say it's more flavorful that other tomatoes and they're willing to pay a higher price for it. But they resent not being able to buy it outside of Florida from October to June.