Tomato prices this week: a 4-market comparison

Tomatoes are the most-traded vegetable on South Africa's fresh produce markets — and the most volatile. In a single week the national average can swing 20% or more, driven by cold snaps in Limpopo, transport costs, and the simple fact that tomatoes don't keep. This week's snapshot uses the latest scraped data from all four municipal markets.

The week in one chart

Across the four markets, the average tomato price last week landed at R22.27 per kilogram — down about 11% on the week, but still 51% higher than a year ago at the same time, according to AMT's Fresh Produce Market Report. Volumes were 13% lower week-on-week and 26% lower year-on-year.

That combination — less fruit on the floor, prices still well above last year — is the kind of signal that keeps hawkers and restaurant owners on their toes.

Where the tomatoes were cheapest

Tshwane Market in Pretoria West was the cheapest of the four last week for class 1 round tomatoes, with a 10 kg box clearing under R200 in the early trade. Durban (Sydney Road) and Cape Town (Epping) were within a few rand of each other for first-grade tomatoes, while Joburg Market in City Deep was the priciest — typically by R15–R25 per box.

The Joburg premium is structural: it's the biggest national market by volume, and it absorbs most of the Gauteng demand and a chunk of cross-border orders. When the Joburg price is high, the rest of the country usually follows within a day.

Why prices moved this way

Three things drove the move last week:

1. Limpopo frost in late July tightened supply of the round tomato variety that dominates winter production. Frost damage to vines shows up in volumes about 3–4 weeks later — exactly the lag we saw.
2. Soft mid-month demand, with schools closed and many households tightening the belt, kept a lid on how much the higher prices could stick.
3. Fuel costs are still up roughly 50% year-on-year for diesel, which feeds directly into the cost of getting tomatoes from the Highveld down to the coast.

What it means for a hawker or a restaurant

• If you buy at Joburg — price up front, but you get the most choice and the freshest turnover.
• If you buy at Tshwane — often 5–8% cheaper than Joburg, and most of the Gauteng agents operate at both.
• If you're in KZN or the Western Cape — your market is local. A Limpopo frost reaches Durban with a 2–3 day delay, so watch the inland markets as a leading indicator.

What to watch this week

The national volumes are expected to recover as the second wave of winter plantings comes off. If volumes rebound faster than demand, expect prices to soften through the second week of the month. If the cold lingers in Limpopo, prices will hold firm.

You can track this in real time on the Today page, or set a daily alert on the tomato comparison view.