The Tomatoes are picked in the field by hand and placed into buckets.
The pickers then bring their bucket of tomatoes to a truck in the field that has large plastic bins. The tomatoes, that are brought to the truck, are placed in bins that can be handled by forklifts at the packing house.The bins are brought to the packing house were they will be bathed and sorted.
The tomatoes are dumped into a chlorine bath. They are bathed in chlorine water with a concentration of 150 ppm. The bath water is maintained at a temperature of 10 degrees hotter than the internal temperature of the tomatoes.
After the tomatoes are chlorine bathed they go into a washer that removes any dirt or leaves that may have adhered to the tomato. They are then dried and ready for sorting.
The tomatoes now enter the grading machine were many people are assembled around. It is at this time that inferior product, that does not make USDA standards, will be removed by hand.
After the tomatoes have been graded for quality they are then sent to the size sorter. The tomatoes are placed on sizing belts that are made to USDA standards. If a tomato falls through the belt it can not be packed at that standard. This process starts with belts with the smallest wholes (Medium or 6X7's) and moves forward to a new set of belts that get larger (large or 6X6) They move forward again to a belt with larger wholes (Xtra large 5X6). This process grades the tomatoes into 3 different sizes.
The tomatoes by conveyor are sent into a box were they are labeled for size and grower markings. The tomatoes are then stacked on a pallet and are given a tag with specific markings as to the production run. This information is critical incase of a product recall.
Tomatoes are stored in temperarure controlled rooms awaiting to be purchased. Thomas Colace Co. tomato brokers will inspect these tomatoes and ship only those that meet both USDA and Thomas Colace Co.'s high standards.
The Tomatoes are picked in the field by hand and placed into buckets.
The tomatoes are dumped into a chlorine bath. They are bathed in chlorine water with a concentration of 150 ppm. The bath water is maintained at a temperature of 10 degrees hotter than the internal temperature of the tomatoes.
After the tomatoes are chlorine bathed they go into a washer that removes any dirt or leaves that may have adhered to the tomato. They are then dried and ready for sorting. 
The tomatoes now enter the grading machine were many people are assembled around. It is at this time that inferior product, that does not make USDA standards, will be removed by hand.
After the tomatoes have been graded for quality they are then sent to the size sorter. The tomatoes are placed on sizing belts that are made to USDA standards. If a tomato falls through the belt it can not be packed at that standard. This process starts with belts with the smallest wholes (Medium or 6X7's) and moves forward to a new set of belts that get larger (large or 6X6) They move forward again to a belt with larger wholes (Xtra large 5X6). This process grades the tomatoes into 3 different sizes.
