MIAMI Burger King may start buying tomatoes from areas other than southwestern Florida to avoid paying the additional penny-a-pound charge that a farm workers advocacy group there is pressing on quick-service chains, the Associated Press reported.
The news agency said it intercepted a letter from the chain to its suppliers, citing the possibility of a change in its tomato procurement policy beginning this year. The communication was reportedly written in December by Steve Grover, Burger King’s vice president of foodservice quality assurance and regulatory compliance.
AP quotes Grover as telling suppliers, “In an effort to protect the BKC [Burger King Corp.] brand and supply system from disruption, we are developing contingency plans to assure our long term supply of tomatoes." He asked the suppliers to detail how they would comply if Burger King indeed decided to buy its tomatoes from other areas.
Florida produces 80 percent or more of the nation’s fresh winter tomatoes, but the growing availability of imports in recent years has slowly been pushing that number down.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been pressing Burger King to join McDonald’s and Yum! Brands’ quick-service brands in agreeing to pay an extra penny per pound. The group says the additional revenue will be used to improve the lives and working conditions of tomato pickers and farm workers.
But the second-largest burger chain has said no. AP said in its story that the quick-service franchisor and operator has repeatedly insinuated the funds would be channeled to the advocacy group.
Yum was the first company to agree to the penny-per-pound charge, saying in 2005 — after boycotts by the CIW — that it would pay that amount for Taco Bell’s tomatoes. Last year it expanded the program to include tomatoes purchased for its Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American brands. McDonald’s signed a similar agreement in 2007 following boycotts of its restaurants.
However, those agreements were thwarted when the Florida Tomato Grower’s Exchange, a growers’ cooperative, said its members refused to pass on the surcharge because of concerns about potential violations of antitrust, labor and racketeering laws. Still, McDonald’s and Yum both said they stood by their agreements and would pay their part when the matter was settled.
In interviews last November, Grover told Nation’s Restaurant News that Burger King saw “no legal way of paying these workers” since it doesn’t actually employ the workers.
The coalition reportedly called Grover’s December letter “defensive and not thought out.”
Burger King consists of about 11,100 namesake restaurants.