For Release

For Release: May 15, 2001

Additional Growers Increase Bionova's Baja Tomato Volume

San Diego, CA. – Bionova/Master’s Touch started their seventh Baja tomato season in May with four new growers and a renewed commitment to food safety and quality, according to Javier Chousal of Bionova/RB Packing of California.

From May to January customers can expect a complete line of long shelf life tomatoes through the company’s 100,000 square foot San Quintin Packing Plant, where additional air forced pre-cooling and cooling rooms will enable them to pack and distribute up to 30,000 tomato packs each day. Tomato varieties include Romas, Vine Ripe, Cherry clusters or loose, and grape tomatoes in clamshell pint containers or in bulk.

With more than 25 years in the produce business, Sales Manager Steve Yasuda, recently toured growing regions to find “an excellent crop of romas” coming due to good weather, water availability and new ground.

“There will be no gap in our program from May to January,” he said, “as we work with growers to provide consistently high volumes from the early warmth in southern Baja and ground along Baja’s northern coast.” Bionova/ Master’s Touch tomatoes come from the Baja regions of San Quintin, Todos Santos and Ventana.

All Bionova/Master’s Touch produce is certified safe by independent third party groups, Primus Labs or Scientific Certification Systems’ NutriClean, that monitor produce movement from the fields to the point of distribution in San Diego.

“All of the tomatoes shipped into the U.S. for Bionova/Master’s Touch meet EPA standards for pesticide use and residue,” said Mr. Chousal who has worked directly with growers to ensure strict farming standards and high product quality. “Our reputation for bringing high quality tomatoes from the Baja region will not be compromised as our company growers set the standard for more and more independent growers that are coming in under the Master’s Touch brand name.”

All tomatoes from the region are shipped to the company’s 26,000 square foot San Diego distribution facility using protocols that include setting the pre-cooling temperature at 50 degrees throughout the cold chain. “We increased our packing capacity by moving some sorting equipment from Culican to Todos Santos,” Mr. Yasuda said. “