Rick Sullivan, owner of Wm. Manis & Co. in Plant City, FL, told The Produce News in mid-November that things were a little slow — something he was enjoying while it lasted.

“It hasn’t been brisk, but in another 10 days or two weeks it will be Katie-bar-the-door for a while,” Mr. Sullivan said. “There’s not any excitement heading into this Thanksgiving holiday like we normally experience, but it was that way last year as well. But things really came around and we did have a nice December last year.”

The Florida tomato season has gotten off to an excellent start, and Bob Spencer of West Coast Tomato LLC in Palmetto, FL, hopes that a so-far solid market through mid-November will hold.

Almost 30 years ago, Willy Pardo started selling exotic and tropical produce from the back of his truck in Miami to neighbors who wanted items that were staples of their diets but not always easy to find in supermarkets. Now W.P. Produce has grown into a full-line purveyor of tropical and exotic items, has recently expanded its lineup to include more common commodities and just last month opened a wholesale location on the Miami Produce Market.

The last few months have been busy for WeisBuy Farms of Fort Myers, FL. The company consolidated its Florida operations into the single Fort Myers office, expanded its Dominican Republic presence and opened an office in McAllen, TX, to take advantage of the boom in produce traffic coming across the Mexican border.

While WeisBuy trades in a full line of products, it specializes in tomatoes. That business, said owner and industry veteran Chuck Weisinger, is changing every day.

As Christmas approaches, Florida Classic Growers of Lake Hamilton, FL, is taking advantage of a great crop of top-quality Florida citrus to boost its holiday gift and fundraising programs, according to Al Finch, vice president of sales and marketing.

“This has been an outstanding year and season to date,” Mr. Finch said. “We have had excellent arrivals on our citrus. Demand has definitely picked up — over the last month there has been a lot of retail promotion on bagged tangerines and bagged Navels as well as bagged juice oranges.”

Florida tomato growers have more reason for optimism this season than at any other time in recent years, said Louis Ledlow Jr., vice president and chief operating officer of Ledlow & Associates Inc. in High Springs, FL.

“We’re all looking forward to a great season. Hopefully we’ll avoid the perfect storm of last season where we had great weather here and in Mexico, and overproduction that held the price down on everybody,” Mr. Ledlow said.