Santa Sweets Picks "Ugly Tomato" Contest Winner

10 Lopsided, Scarred and Deformed Tomatoes Sprout to First Place

Washington, D.C. - Sept. 24, Magic mirror, on the wall, whose tomato is the ugliest of all? With so many ugly entries to their “Ugly Tomato" Contest, Santa Sweets couldn't pick just one and instead decided to award 10 prizes for some of the most unsightly tomatoes that make their famous UGLYRIPEs® look pretty good!

Great promotion!Chieko Arimura of Cupertino, CA; Vincenzo Domingo of Long Island, NY; Nadine Gotschall of Louisville, OH; Odes Hoogeveen of Oxnard, CA; Stephanie Mallette of North Canton, OH; Gregg Meyer of Nevada City, CA; Courtney Newman of Hollywood, CA; Lori Patterson of Richmond, VA; Rita Rudner of Buena Park, CA; and Cheryl Thomas of Virginia Beach, VA are the owners of some repulsive produce, and the lucky recipients of a box of UGLYRIPEs. Each winner can choose to have his/her case shipped now or in the dead of winter when the summer tasting UGLYRIPE might be a refreshing reminder of warmth. Kelly Bevan, an eleventh winner from the UK, has quite an ugly tomato, but cannot receive her shipment because of international shipping laws.

Announced in August on the Santa Sweets blog, the "Ugly Tomato" Contest challenged tomato growers everywhere to submit pictures of their ugliest tomatoes to give the company?s well-known UGLYRIPEs a run for their money. Green, red and some shades in between, home cultivators had miraculously produced some of the lumpiest, most oddly-shaped tomatoes around and surprised even Joe Procacci, CEO of Procacci Brothers Sales Corp.

"I've been in the tomato-growing business for over 60 years and I have never seen tomatoes this ugly!" said Procacci.

Santa Sweets is a produce grower and marketer based in Plant City, Florida and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Procacci Brothers Sales Corporation. The Company's focus is on growing the most flavorful produce on the market, including the UGLYRIPE® Tomato and Santa Sweets' grape tomatoes. In addition to conventional tomatoes, Santa Sweets is also one of the largest growers of USDA-certified organic tomatoes. For more information, visit their website, www.santasweets.com.

Procacci Brothers, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1948 and has since become one of the largest growers and handlers of fresh tomatoes in the world, handling over 275 thousand tons of organic and conventional produce per year. Procacci Brothers and its Garden State Farms division supply the supermarket industry with a full line of fresh repacked and private labeled fruits and vegetables from around the world. In addition, they are a major supplier of pre-made gift baskets, packed fresh to order daily. From the freshest produce in the world, to the most innovative packaging, to attentive and personalized service, it's always the best. For more information, go to www.procaccibrothers.com.

Also check out Santa Sweets' blog at http://santasweets.blogspot.com for the latest news about the UGLYRIPE.