No tomatoes on the menu? Rising prices squeeze local restaurants, schools and shoppers

Tomato prices have climbed to some of the highest levels in years, forcing Humboldt County restaurants and food trucks to add surcharges or pull tomatoes off their menus altogether.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for field‑grown tomatoes reached $2.689 per pound in April 2026. The price grew significantly higher to $1.793 in April 2025, an increase of over 40%. Several local eateries have temporarily removed tomatoes or added small surcharges as wholesale prices for tomatoes continue to surge.

What's driving the spike

Tomato prices are climbing nationwide due to a mix of supply and cost pressures. Weather losses in Florida and northern Mexico, including heat waves, frost, and storms, caused damage to early‑season crops, shrinking supply just as spring's seasonal gap between growing regions typically pushes prices higher. At the same time, rising fuel and freight costs have made transportation and fertilizer more expensive. There is also a 17% import tariff on tomatoes from Mexico, a leading supplier of tomatoes for the United States. The import tariff that began in July 2025 is part of an antidumping duty order set by the International Trade Administration to offset what was deemed unfair prices by Mexico.

Local restaurants adjust

At Stars Burgers in Eureka, manager Jesse Willis said the business had to adapt to the increased cost of tomatoes by adding a surcharge of 50 cents for tomatoes for customers who would like them on their burgers.

"Nobody's really been upset about that. I think everybody understands, because everybody watches the news and knows what's going on, so they're like, ‘we get it.' But yeah, definitely ridiculous the prices that they're asking for."

Willis said the increase has hit harder than other previous elevated food‑cost swings. Such as bacon and avocado prices a couple of years ago, which had gone up and then stabilized.

"It's just crazy. It's ridiculous. I guess there are several factors that are causing it to occur, but we've never seen anything go up as much as tomatoes have," said Willis. "So we've just been dealing with it, and the customers have been OK with it. We are just charging that small fee until they go down a little bit. There's not much else we can do about it."

Schools feel the strain

At the Chef Store, Cris Hollen, who purchases food for Freshwater Elementary and Garfield School, said the impact goes far beyond tomatoes. Hollen purchases seasonal foods for the school and is not currently buying tomatoes as they are not in season. However, she has noticed an overall increase in the price of the foods they purchase.

"Food costs have gone up 20% just in the past month alone, but they were going up before that. We're with the Freshwater Elementary School District, and we service Garfield as well," said Hollen. "And not only fresh produce, but all of our items, oils, and dry goods that are being shipped are high. And we use organic to begin with. However, it's all going up."

The strain hits big for small restaurants

For small operators like Caps Food Shack, the jump has been dramatic. Owner Michael Campusano said tomatoes appear in about a third of his menu items. When prices for tomatoes first started going up, the food truck still kept tomatoes on the menu.

"It's just, right now it's more than four times the price that it was," said Campusano. "I buy Roma tomatoes specifically because they fit nice around my sliders."

The increase in the price of tomatoes has been significant and has been increasing over the last year. Campusano said he eventually pulled tomatoes from the menu after prices climbed far beyond what his food truck could absorb.

"We put up a Facebook post, and we got a lot of good, good feedback from people and encouragement," said Campusano. "We just told them we're going to be taking them off the menu for the time being, until it comes back down, even just a little lower."

Campusano said other ingredients have fluctuated quite a bit, such as beef prices, which had temporarily gone up maybe as much as 20%-30%. At that time, he did not adjust the menu or make menu items smaller to offset the added expense. Tomatoes, he said, were different, and he needed to offset the expense.

"It has almost quadrupled, about three and a half times the price, $17 or $18 for a case. And the last I looked, they were $60, yeah, that's a little over triple."

He estimates he was spending an extra $160 a month before finally dropping them from the menu. He offered them on the menu for about a week before he decided that Caps Food Shack would need to discontinue them until the prices fell.

"I haven't had one person be upset about it. Honestly, I get a lot of orders that say, no tomatoes," said Campusano. "I haven't had any customers at the location, and certainly nothing online saying they're upset. At least everybody's been very encouraging."

Campusano said when the price drops enough, he will put tomatoes back on the menu. Until then, he hopes other small businesses in the community can adapt to the same economic pressures.

"I hope everybody's doing well with their navigating this around here, because I feel like there are some businesses that aren't choosing to take them off the menu," said Campusano. "So whatever they're coming up with, I hope it helps. You know, I wish everybody the best."

Local tomato prices

On May 13, the prices for a tray or case of tomatoes at Chef Store was:

5-pound Roma tray - $32.39

25-pound Roma case - $48.49

20-pound round tomatoes - $58.89

On May 14, the price per pound for tomatoes was:

Safeway Grocery Store

Roma tomatoes - $1.99 per pound for members, $3.99 per pound for non-members

Hot‑house tomatoes - $3.99 per pound

WinCo Foods

On-the‑vine tomatoes - $2.98 per pound

Maranda Vargas can be reached at 707-441-0504.

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 8:07 PM.