Burger King weighs move from Florida tomatoes

Burger King weighs move from Florida tomatoes
Friday, 08 February 2008


http://www.larazaunida.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=799&Itemid=48

By Doug Ohlemeier

(Feb. 5) A letter from Burger King warning that it may not buy
tomatoes from Immokalee, Fla., — an area where a workers’ union has
demanded fast-food companies to pay a penny a pound more for tomatoes
— has stirred uneasiness among Florida growers.

Miami-based Burger King Corp. denies the Dec. 18 letter was linked the
workers’ wage issue.

The letter, sent to tomato suppliers, requests they develop and submit
to the fast-food chain “contingency plans for the possibility that we
would choose not to purchase tomatoes grown on farms in the Immokalee,
Florida, region.”

The Dec. 18 letter, signed by Steven Grover, Burger King’s vice
president of food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance,
tells buyers the request is to prevent supply disruptions and that
packers should develop plans for a phased implementation of the plan
starting with next year’s winter growing season.

A Jan. 16 Associated Press article linked the letter to demands for
higher worker wages by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a labor
group that has lobbied Burger King and other fast food operators to
pay workers an additional penny a pound for the tomatoes they pick.

Denise Wilson, a Burger King spokeswoman, defended the letter and said
it did not have anything to do with the workers’ pay issue.

“We buy from many regions and make plans for a variety of reasons,”
she said. “We’re asking our suppliers for contingency plans, in case
of bad weather or freezes, which happened this January.”

Others in the industry said the letter clearly stems from the
Immokalee workers issue.

Bob Spencer, vice president and sales manager of West Coast Tomato
Inc., Palmetto, Fla., which has Immokalee production, said Florida’s
packers are waiting to see how the situation may be resolved.

“I would be shocked if Burger King switched from Florida tomatoes to
the only viable alternative, which would be Mexican tomatoes, because
of a labor dispute in Florida,” he said. “We are the most heavily
regulated agricultural community in the world. If Burger King chooses
to switch to tomatoes grown in Mexico, where there is nowhere near the
regulation and oversight (that we have), it doesn’t speak well on how
they feel about protecting their consumers.”

Spencer said the Florida tomato industry would welcome talking with
Burger King officials about the issue and to see if the packers could
show Burger King that it is being fed misinformation regarding the
Immokalee tomato pickers.

Tomato broker Chuck Weisinger, president and chief executive officer
of broker Weis-Buy Farms Inc., Fort Myers, Fla., said the letter is
confusing and provides more questions than answers.

“Florida produces some 40-odd percent of the national tomatoes grown,”
he said. “If they’re going to cut off a source of supply, it might
backfire unless they’re planning to stop putting tomatoes on their
sandwiches at all.”

Because it’s not an immediate issue affecting next season, Reggie
Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange,
Maitland, said there hasn’t been any organized industry discussions on
the issue.

“Burger King is being aggressively attacked inappropriately by (the
coalition),” he said. “They’re (Burger King) doing their corporate due
diligence in exploring how to deal with that.

“It’s unfortunate that Burger King is looking at that option, but they
have the right to make that business decision,” Brown said. “The whole
CIW campaign intended to help workers may in fact eliminate jobs in an
industry that’s there to consistently employ them in a socially
accountable, third-party audit practice and pays them very competitive
wages.”

Regarding the handling of contracts,

It was unclear how supply shifts would affect contracts with Florida
growers. Brown said there would be ample opportunity for further
discussion with Burger King prior to next year.

Burger King hasn’t gone along with the coalition’s request, although
other operators such as McDonald's USA, Oak Brook, Ill., and Yum!
Brands Inc., Irvine, Calif., which runs Taco Bell, have agreed to pay
the extra cost.

Citing potential violations of federal and state antitrust, labor and
racketeering laws, Florida’s tomato packers in November declined to
participate in the deals.



SOURCE: http://thepacker.com/icms/_dtaa2/content/wrapper.asp?alink=2008-154228-535.asp&stype=produceconcepts&fb=