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Store Equipment & Design, August, 2000

As packaged salads become more and more popular, don't leave juicy, red, cancer-fighting tomatoes behind.

Early Girl. Better Boy. Beefsteak. As shoppers stock up on convenient bagged salads, they may be forgetting these old friends. According to the California Tomato Commission, customers who buy packaged salads buy fewer salad-related items such as green peppers, celery and--the most frequently purchased such item--tomatoes. Letting them bypass the tomatoes is a big mistake, according to the commission, which encourages retailers to create displays integrating packaged salads, tomatoes, dressings and other salad items, perhaps with signage reminding them to add some color to that pile of greens. Signage aimed at health-conscious consumers may not be a bad idea, either: Tomatoes are loaded with lycopene, an antioxidant that may prevent prostate cancer.

Here are some other ideas to keep tomato sales brisk courtesy of the Commission:

* Offer fully ripe tomatoes. In one study, 60 percent of shoppers offered slightly under ripe tomatoes bought them; 72 percent of those offered fully ripe bought; and 90 percent bought when offered a choice of both. Offering a choice can also cut down on complaints about "pale, tasteless tomatoes."

* Promote a variety of uses, including eating tomatoes fresh and out of hand, adding them to prepared spaghetti sauce or cutting them into cups and stuffing them with seafood salad.

* Treat them right. When buying, look for bright, shiny skins and firm flesh, regardless of ripeness. Ripen unripe tomatoes at 58-65[degrees]F and 85-95 percent relative humidity Store-ripe tomatoes stem up at 55-60[degrees]F and 85-95 percent relative humidity Temperatures below 50[degrees]F retard color development and destroy flavor and texture. Make sure customers know this, as well. If tomatoes must be kept in a cooler, wrap them in thermal blankets and store them near the door to reduce the risk of damage from cold.