How to sell cherry tomatoes successfully is something every grower wonders about—especially in a good season, when plants can flood you with fruit. It’s a nice problem to have, but only if you’re able to move your product. Cherry tomatoes are often earlier than slicing varieties, profitable, and a customer favorite—but chances are, you’re not the only vendor with a bumper crop. Here’s how to outpace the competition and boost sales in the middle of a busy market season.
Here are six tips for selling more…
1. Start Cherry Tomatoes Early for a Sales Edge
Obviously, the best way to get ahead of the competition is to simply beat them to market. For this, a small amount of season extension is generally required deepening on your location. For some, you might need a heated greenhouse, though even plating your cherry tomatoes in an unheated greenhouse a few weeks before you would plant them outdoors can yield significant results. A one- or two-week jump on everyone else could mean a significant boost in revenue.
2. Avoid the August Glut With Smart Timing
Another way to get ahead of competitors who can drive prices and sales down: Simply do not compete with them. Do an early round of cherry tomatoes, then a late round. So while others struggle to maintain reasonable prices in the glut of August, you can wait out that month, then have fresh cherry tomatoes when others’ plants are burnt out and customer are still looking for them.
3. Grow Unique Cherry Tomato Varieties Customers Love
A beautiful array of cherry tomato options exists. You should dare to mix up what you grow and sell. Customers enjoy the different shapes, colors and sizes of tomatoes. As a grower, you can essentially sell different varieties all mixed together as well as separated into individual varieties on the table. Or, you could do both.
4. Add Value by Selling Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine
Some cherry tomatoes from determinate plants (meaning they ripen more or less all together), and some from indeterminate plants (ripen over a long period of time) can yield a cascade of cherry tomatoes. Under the right management, these could make nice additions to the market table. You might sell them for more per pound than the tomatoes themselves are generally worth.
5. Use Small Containers to Maximize Tomato Profits
We’ve had success selling them in heaping, half-pint berry containers rather than full-pint containers. This works really well in a “1 for $3 or 2 for $5” option. This means you get a minimum of of $5 per pint/pound, which, generally speaking, is what they cost most of us to produce.
6. Sell Cherry Tomatoes to Restaurants and Chefs
Cherry tomatoes are a summer fixture in restaurants. You’ll always sell more to busier restaurants than smaller ones that might be more particular about shapes and sizes. If you do have a good relationship with a high-end chef, charge for sorting out the size differences. Otherwise, it is always a good idea to find a nice, larger-scale restaurant that will buy larger quantities of cherry tomato bumper crops.
How to Sell Cherry Tomatoes: Final Thoughts
With the right mix of timing, variety, presentation, and customer targeting, cherry tomatoes can be one of your most profitable crops. Whether you’re trying to beat competitors to market, avoid the midseason glut, or land a steady restaurant account, these strategies show how to sell cherry tomatoes more effectively—and with less stress. A little planning can go a long way in turning a bumper crop into a financial win.
This article about how to sell cherry tomatoes was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.
