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Why Tomatoes Are the Most Expensive They've Been in Four Decades

6/11/202655 min

In April, the price of tomatoes was around $2.69 per pound — the highest seen in some four decades. And tomatoes aren't the only food getting more expensive. From cauliflower to lettuce, fresh produce is spiking all over the place. So what's driving the price spike? And what can tomatoes teach us teach about America's political economy including changes in trade and tariffs? Our guest today is Jacob Krempel, senior vice president of procurement and merchandising at the wholesale food distributor Baldor, and an expert in securing fresh produce. We talk to him about where America's tomato supply actually comes from, why consumers are paying more and more, how restaurants navigate price fluctuations, and the influx of novel new tomato varieties.

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First 90 seconds
  1. Tracy Alloway· Host0:00

    Odd Lots is brought to you by VanEck. For years, investors basically forgot about real assets, energy, gold, and infrastructure, but look at what's driving markets now. Central banks loading up on gold, massive CapEx cycles, currencies doing weird things. These assets are at the center of it. RAAX, the VanEck Real Assets ETF, is an actively managed one-stop shop for real assets spanning gold, commodities, natural resource equities, and more. Go to vaneck.com/raaxpod to learn more. Fun disclosures later in this episode.

  2. Speaker 20:32

    [upbeat music] The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News keeps you on top of the biggest stories of the day.

  3. Jacob Kremple· Guest0:37

    My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day.

  4. Speaker 20:41

    Stories that move markets- Chair Powell opened the door to this first interest rate cut ... impact politics, change businesses- This is a really stunning development for the AI world ... and how you think about your bottom line. Listen to The Big Take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

  5. Joe Weisenthal· Host1:04

    [upbeat music] Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News.

  6. Tracy Alloway· Host1:12

    [upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots podcast. I'm Tracy Alloway.

  7. Joe Weisenthal· Host1:27

    And I'm Joe Weisenthal.

  8. Tracy Alloway· Host1:28

    Joe, I know you love

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