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| Far more than Just Tomatoes |
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| Written by Jonathan Partridge / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Wednesday, 26 September 2007 | |
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Local dried fruit, vegetable company offers new products  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator Westley-based Just Tomatoes recently has gotten in on the trend, too, releasing freeze-dried pomegranate seeds. Just Pomegranate, released 2½ months ago, is the only freeze-dried pomegranate product on the market, and it’s one of 45 products the ever-growing company produces these days. Other new offerings are soon to come, and the company’s dried fruits and veggies are becoming increasingly available in grocery stores and restaurants. “It’s not just vegetarians and health fanatics eating our product,” said Just Tomatoes manager Melissa Carmo. “People are looking for healthier things to eat rather than chips.” All that interest has translated into growth for Just Tomatoes, which added five full-time staffers within the past year — three office workers and two shippers. The company, which started with just Bill and Karen Cox in 1985, now has 30 workers in all.  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator The idea for Just Tomatoes’ pomegranate product came about at a March 2006 natural foods show, Carmo said. Many people there touted the fruit’s health properties. “Pomegranates in general are just so popular,” Carmo said. The fruit’s juicy red seeds have become known for containing vitamin C and potassium and being a good source of fiber and antioxidants. Tom Tjerandsen, manager of the San Francisco-based Pomegranate Council, said the industry has grown steadily during the past decade, particularly as Los Angeles-based grower and manufacturer POM Wonderful doubled the state’s acreage. “I think we’re only beginning to scratch the surface in terms of potential,” Tjerandsen said. In addition to the pomegranates, Just Tomatoes is cooking up other innovations. Just Fruit Salad, the brainchild of Carmo, will be released in mid-October. It includes pears, apples, bananas, strawberries and grapes. The freeze-dried grapes have a unique texture, different from raisins, Carmo explained. Melissa said the fruit salad mix is the first Just Tomatoes product she has made up. Karen Cox described it as Carmo’s “baby.” Carmo said the company also plans to release a couple of other yet-to-be-announced products in the spring. The company is increasingly placing its products in stores. Raley’s and Nob Hill began carrying Just Tomatoes products in July. The products also can be bought at Richland and O’Briens markets in Modesto and on the Web or direct at Just Tomatoes’ Westley office on West Hamilton Road.  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator Meanwhile, Just Tomatoes products also continue to pique the interest of manufacturers. Its dried tomatoes appear in Partners Crackers, and other products appear in packaged Frontier Soups and in Pepper Mill Imports olive oil products. Several people even have begun using the company’s products, such as Just Raspberries and Just Hot Veggies, as bird food, Karen Cox said. “(Birds) love the real intense ones,” she said. She said she even heard an audiotape of a talking parrot that would croak its desire for Just Raspberries to its owner. “It’s a fun business,” she said. That element of fun is apparent in some of the gift packages the company sells online. Those include “Booberry” packages for Halloween and “Peas Forgive Me” packages for times when one must apologize for an offense. Cox, also an artist, designs the labels herself, with smiling cartoon fruits and veggies. She has said in the past that what started as an idea to add a bit of extra money during years when farming was not so good has far exceeded expectations.  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator These days, the company uses industrial-scale dehydrating contraptions designed by Bill Cox to dry tomatoes, apples and persimmons. The dehydrating goes on 24 hours a day from July through January, with tomatoes being dried these days. Apple drying will begin in late October. Other fruits and vegetables that the company sells are freeze-dried by another firm in Modesto. Workers package fruit and vegetable products on site and label them before shipments are sent off to points across the nation and around the world. Though the company’s biggest markets are on the East Coast, there are plenty of fans closer to home. James Tanner, store clerk at Village Health in Modesto, said some people like to put the dried strawberries and bananas in their cereal, and one customer always buys out all of the store’s Just Peas. “They all sell pretty well, you know,” Tanner said. To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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