Why did tomatoes go crazy?
Tomato prices, the possible factors behind their swings, and where they are lost along the supply chain.
In the vegetable market one question repeats every morning: how much are tomatoes today?
The answer rarely looks like yesterday’s, which is why sellers call them “al-majnoona” (the crazy one), and it is where we begin this newsletter.
By food security we mean here how our food becomes available, and what affects its production, its delivery and its prices.
The average price per kilo of local tomatoes fell between September 2025 and September 2026, the largest drop among food and beverages, and imported tomatoes fell 8.5%. Comparing one month across two years shows the drop, but not how the price swung during the year.
What are the possible factors behind its price swings?
We grow most of our tomatoes in the Kingdom, and self-sufficiency rose 9.2% in 2024 compared with 2023, yet the price still swings, and the sources point to three possible factors:
These are possible factors, and the sources do not measure each factor’s effect on September 2026 prices. In 2023, 392 thousand tonnes of our output came from open fields, out of 692 thousand tonnes.
234 thousand tonnes lost every year
This is the amount of tomatoes lost and wasted in the Kingdom every year, more than any other vegetable, according to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture:
The statement counts loss and waste together, without saying how much is lost at each stage. By the FAO definition, loss is what is lost from harvest up to retail, and waste is what is lost at retail and consumption. What is lost never reaches our tables, which is why the FAO sees reducing loss and waste as playing an important role in improving food security.
Our reading: these figures raise a question for producers, distributors and traders: alongside growing more, where can less be lost, and how can it reach the market at a better time? The ministry’s figure shows the size of the problem, but not which stage deserves priority.
Picks from market news
The average price per kilo of local onions rose 36.43% between September 2025 and September 2026, the largest rise among foods, followed by local potatoes at 26.76%.
General Authority for Statistics via Argaam, 20 October 2026Sabil, the National Grain Supply Company, is moving to offer 60% of its silo space, the facilities where grain is stored, to the private sector, and says the move supports food security goals and reduces reliance on imports and loss and waste.
Al Eqtisadiah, 19 October 2026Four hours in shops, two hours at home. The US Food and Drug Administration treats cut tomatoes as a food that needs temperature control, because bacteria can grow in them, so food outlets keep them at 5° or below, and once out of refrigeration the limit is four hours. At home the rule is shorter: perishable food should not sit out for more than two hours, or one hour above 32°C. For kitchen food safety, follow the 75° newsletter.
How much did you pay for a kilo of tomatoes this week, and in which city?
Send the price, the city, whether the tomatoes were local or imported, and where you bought them to editorial@saudifoodtech.sa, and we may compile your answers in an upcoming issue.
Sources
- General Authority for Statistics, average commodity prices for September 2026, via Argaam (20 October 2026).
- General Authority for Statistics, Food Security Statistics 2024.
- Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, tomato production 2023, via HortiDaily (14 March 2025).
- Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, statement on vegetable loss and waste (17 March 2024).
- Masrawy, tomato prices rise in Egypt (18 May 2026).
- UN Comtrade via TrendEconomy, fresh tomato imports (2023).
- Reserve Bank of India, July 2023 bulletin, via Business Standard (17 July 2023).
- FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture 2019, via Food Security Portal.
- US Food and Drug Administration, Time as a Public Health Control for cut tomatoes.
- Food Safety News, the two-hour rule for perishable food (3 July 2026).
- Al Eqtisadiah, Sabil to offer 60% of its silo space to the private sector (19 October 2026).
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