Tomatoes yield: how much is usable after prep (AP to EP %)
Tomatoes: about 88% usable going whole to cored and trimmed, with a published range of 88–88%. That is a cost factor of 1.14: for every kilo you need ready to use, buy 1.14 kg as purchased.
Yield by preparation stage
| Stage | Average | Range | What is lost | USDA item |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole → stem removed | 98% | 98–99% | Stem ends | 2539 |
| Whole → peeled | 90% | 84–94% | Skin | 2540 |
| Whole → cored and trimmed | 88% | 88–88% | Core and trimmings | 2541 |
| Whole → peeled, cored and trimmed | 82% | 78–84% | Skin, core and trimmings | 2542 |
| Peeled, cored and trimmed → diced | 92% | 88–96% | Juice and handling loss | 2543 |
| Catering tin (US No. 10 can) → drained solids | 75% | 68–89% | Liquid | 2546 |
Yields multiply: 82% × 92% ≈ 75% for whole → peeled and diced. You never add the losses together.
Peeling and dicing for a concassé takes a quarter of the weight. A drained catering tin gives about the same 75%, which is worth knowing when a recipe asks for drained tomatoes by weight.
Prep notes
For concassé, score a cross in the base, blanch for 10–15 seconds, refresh in iced water and the skins slip off. Quarter, cut out the seeds and core flat with the knife, then dice. The seeds and juice you lose are most of the gap between 82% and 75%.
What the yield does to the cost
Beef tomatoes, 7 kg at £18.49 (JJ Foodservice, 10 Oct 2026) is £2.64 a kilo as purchased. At 75% usable that is £3.52 per usable kilo.
Worked example: a kilo of tomato concassé needs 1,333 g as purchased, costing £3.52. Costed on the bought weight it would read £2.64, so the costing would be 25% light.
For a cooked sauce, peeled plum tomatoes, 6 × 2.55 kg tins (£21.99, JJ Foodservice, 10 Oct 2026) work out at about £1.92 per kilo of drained tomato at 75%, against £3.52 for fresh concassé before the labour. Fresh earns its price raw, in salads and salsa; in a long-cooked sauce the tin is the better buy.
| Usable tomatoes needed | Buy (as purchased) at 88% |
|---|---|
| 1 kg | 1.14 kg |
| 5 kg | 5.68 kg |
| 10 kg | 11.36 kg |
Use 88% in the yield calculator →
Typical uses
Salads and burgers (sliced), salsa and bruschetta (concassé), roast tomato soup and fresh sauces.
Storage and the trim
Keep at room temperature until ripe; the fridge kills the flavour and makes the flesh mealy. Use cut tomatoes the same day. Seeds, juice and skins go into a tomato water or the base of a sauce.
Yield source: USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 102, Food Yields Summarized by Different Stages of Preparation (Matthews and Garrison, USDA Agricultural Research Service, 1975), Table 1, items 2539, 2540, 2541, 2542, 2543, 2546 (US samples of whole regular-size tomatoes). Prices as stated, read on 10 Oct 2026. Your own case is the real number: weigh it in the yield calculator.
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