When Paul Mastronardi joined his family’s produce company full time in 1994, he didn’t like tomatoes. He set out to change that by visiting seed companies around the world, trying as many tomato varieties in development as possible. In the Netherlands, he tasted the Campari, a variation on the proverbial cutting board because of its unusual size. Retailers feared it would get lost on shelves. But the flavor was so good, Mastronardi insisted on introducing the variety to stores across North America.
Now all Mastronardi tomatoes are titled according to their flavor and appearance following a rebrand after greenhouse technology advanced enough to allow the company to produce tomatoes more efficiently. There’s Zima, Angel, Wild Wonders, Kamato, Minzano, Sprinkles, and the latest: Lolli Bombs. Lolli Bombs are named for their “sweet like candy” flavor. They debuted in 2020, joining three other Bomb varieties: Flavor, Sugar and Honey.
Each package image connotes its flavor, such as a lightning bolt, lollipop or honeycomb. Mastronardi first tasted the Flavor Bomb in the South of France in 2008 and was struck by its crunch and sweetness. He wanted the name to reflect those characteristics.
The word “bomb” immediately came to mind when he bit into one. “It was like an explosion of flavor in your mouth,” he said. The unique flavor in the Bombs comes from their low acidity and high sugar content, and they’re marketed as a snack.
Nicole Olynk Widmar, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, compares them to designer fruit like cotton candy grapes and rosé raspberries. “People with a higher income buy a higher-quality cut of meat, but not necessarily more pounds of meat,” Olynk Widmar said.
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