> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theplatia.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Where does Philly produce come from? - URL: https://www.theplatia.com/where-does-philly-produce-come-from/ - Published: 2026-10-08T14:02:33.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T14:02:33.000Z - Description: How I tracked down my late-season tomatoes - Author: Annemarie Dooling - Tags: Food, Civics I wanted to better understand my favorite vegetable, the tomato, and all the touch points it takes to get to my salad. I buy from several places, a CSA, the Headhouse Square market, Reading Terminal and local grocers, but I wanted to focus on the grocers because, for the most part, the market and CSA tomatoes come from those distributors. Acme is one of the top supermarket chains in Philadelphia, with about 16 stores across the city. Giant is close behind with 10 stores in the region. And, along with a few other major supermarket chains, like Aldi and ShopRite, this is where the majority of Philadelphians get their fruit and vegetables. But where does the produce sold in these stores originate? For my nearest supermarket, Acme, we can track this down through its distribution center. The Albertsons brands, including Acme, use a processing center nearby in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This is where their supply chain team intakes large amounts of food, and routes them to stores near you, to put it simply. This is the East Coast center of their operation, a 1.4 million square foot facility, where many brands of fruit and vegetables are processed. So, if Acme is centered in the area, they must use Jersey tomatoes, right? The juicy darling of the tomato world known for their bright red color? Well, it’s questionable if Acme uses local Jersey tomatoes, or even tomatoes from small farms in Lancaster. The official Acme brand page lists growers NatureSweet and O Organics. I tracked down NatureSweet to farms in Mexico, and O Organics, which is simply an umbrella brand name for a variety of tomatoes, also is grown in Mexico. Acme also sells a brand of tomato called Signature, which is simply an Acme umbrella brand for these tomatoes. [Acme has a few unbranded tomato products](https://www.acmemarkets.com/shop/aisles/fruits-vegetables/fresh-vegetables-herbs/tomatoes.html?sort=&page=2&loc=2638&ref=theplatia.com), like “on the vine” tomatoes, heirloom, yellow beefsteak and roma. Their website doesn’t list where these products come from, so I went to my local Acme to check the barcodes. At the time I visited, there were tomatoes on the vine and heirloom, and their labels clearly indicated that the produce originates from Canada and Mexico. Only pre-packaged Patricia tomatoes are listed as a US product. Patricia’s are grown in Tennessee, part of Pete Pappas & Sons farms. During summer seasons, some Acme tomatoes may come from local farms. The weeks I went shopping, they did not. Giant is the other large supermarket chain in Philly. Among their tomato brands they sell NatureSweet and Sunset, which operates commercial greenhouses across 15 US states and Canada. Giant also has a “buy local” program that includes farms like Country Creek in Chambersberg, Oak Grove Farms in Mechanicsburg, and the Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop which is an association of 100 farms in Lancaster County. Just a few blocks away from both Giant and Acme, on Sundays, you can get local tomatoes from Hayday Farms and Beechwood Orchards at the Headhouse Square Farmer’s Market. This produce comes directly from these small farms and is brought in on trucks by the families that run the farms, and sold by the pound at the market. So, with farms producing tomatoes in the area, why would supermarkets opt for international produce? Distribution, scale and shelf life. Gorgeous, juicy Jersey tomatoes have a shorter shelf life, meaning the timeline from picking to purchase is tighter than a tomato grown to be shipped. And, of course, [given seasonal New Jersey climate](https://www.thepacker.com/news/red-alert-whats-behind-surge-tomato-prices?ref=theplatia.com), peak growing season ends in the fall, and stores need tomatoes all year. Plus, you can visit these small farms, just across the bridge, and get the produce fresh from the farmer, [like I did a few weeks ago](https://www.theplatia.com/philly-cemetery-veggie-garden/). ### What you can do There’s nothing wrong with sourcing tomatoes from farms that use good labor practices and grow fresh produce in other areas. But knowing where your food comes from is just one way to understand how far your money goes, and who benefits from your dollar. Next time you’re shopping, take a look at the labels to see where the ingredient is distributed from. You’ll gain a better understanding of how food corporations work together, where items are processed and what the timeline is from creation to your plate.