Arkansas Tomatoes are Ripe for the Pickin’ January 17, 2014
Snippet:
“I’ve been with Subway 30 years in June,” Strzelecki says. “Throughout the years, we bought tomatoes and food from whoever we could, from the back of a truck. Back then, the food safety regulations weren’t as strong. Now, we buy from accredited farms that go through an extreme audit process for safety measures and equipment.” Three years ago, a member of the Independent Purchasing Cooperative for Subway approached Strzelecki and others in the company about visiting a southern Arkansas tomato farm.
Growers for Del Monte, like Triple M Farms, began supplying Arkansas tomatoes for 336 Subway stores in four states – Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Louisiana. “We’re the only territory in the nation doing this,” Strzelecki says. “And while it’s only for about six weeks in the summer, (June to the end of July or early August), it makes a difference. We’re currently getting tomatoes and bell peppers, and we hope to expand to having Arkansas cucumbers as well.”'''
Michael Hensley of Hermitage, Ark., grows tomatoes and purchases them from other farmers to sell to Del Monte and Wal-Mart.
