Tomato shortages might raise pizza, sauce, and salsa prices.
Some California farmers can't produce enough tomatoes to "ketchup" for retail demand due to severe weather.
The Golden State produces the most canned tomatoes in the world, stocking pizza, salsa, and pasta sauce, but one of the worst droughts in over a millennium
“We need rain,” Mike Montna, head of the California Tomato Growers Association, told Bloomberg.
"We are running out of inventory to meet market demand.It's hard to cultivate tomatoes now."
Processing tomatoes, cultivated in California, are used to make sauces, pastes, and soups because they're resilient and not juicy. In recent years,
growers have witnessed rising tomato production costs due to state groundwater limitations and high labor, fuel, and fertilizer costs, lowering yields.
Since 2015, California's processed tomato supply has declined from 14 million tons to 11 million tons in 2021, according to the USDA.
Pruett noted that tomato paste prices have risen 80% for retailers since last year and that those who haven't secured their supply by now
"That relationship will break down if frozen pizzas, pasta sauce, and other staples are priced so high that the average consumer wants to do something else
Although consumers may disagree whether pizza and pasta can be substituted. It may be harder than expected as 43% of Americans consume pie weekly.