Customer Reviews

San Marzano Tomatoes, Whole, Peeled

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I am originally from Europe (Germany) and love Italian Cooking. After moving to the States, I have a hard time finding the ingredients that I was used to get easily there in the american grocery stores. If I can find them, they are overpriced and of inferior quality (parmigiano reggiano anyone ?). I often feel that people are knowingly tricked by the industry by product names which resemble the "real product", the best example would be olive oil.
Happy of at least finding one of my favorite pasta brands ("deCecco"), I was looking for the San Marzano tomatoes which I was used to get at my local italian grocery store for 1.50 Euros (about 1.80 USD) a can (the acidity of most american canned tomatoes is too high, in my opinion).
So far, I have only found this brand at the local grocery stores, and after reading the label, I was very suspicious about it - a San Marzano tomato, produced in USA ? I gave it a chance anyways, at last, they have a high price and they are still on the market, so they might have something going for them.
After opening the can, I instantly saw that these can not be real San Marzano tomatoes - San Marzanos are long and thin and bittersweet (once you tried them, you will be able to tell), these are spherical and sweet and sour.
I have used them in soup and pasta sauces so far, at least they seem to be a little better than the regular canned tomatoes in the grocery store, but it can not justify the price tag - in Europe I can get this quality for about a dollar.
So if you are searching for a good canned tomato, keep on searching - these here might not taste all that bad, but they are not San Marzanos and they are expensive as well.

This Calif. company managed to use the San Marzano name in their brand name, but these are in no way, shape or form actually San Marzano tomatoes.

They are overpriced and HORRIBLE.

Do not buy this brand if you are looking for real San Marzano tomatoes, Progresso tomatoes are better for 1/3 the price.

These people should be ashamed of themselves.

I seriously DOUBT that this California tomato packer exports to Italy, so WHY is there Italian on the can?? To FOOL THE CONSUMER..no other reason.

These are so-so tomatoes if they were priced like Hunt's..but they're 3 times the price and they are NOT REAL SAN MARZANO TOMATOES!!

Buyer BEWARE!!!!!!

Although I'm not a former disgruntled employee, I have developed some reservations about "San Marzano" brand tomatoes. When I bought my first can of these tomoatoes at my local grocery store, I thought, great San Marzano plum tomatoes stright from Italy for under $3 for a 28oz can! Then when I got the can home and opened it, the tomatoes inside didn't look like the ones on the can. They were round, and didn't look like plum tomatoes, which resemble little eggplants. Further, after reading the label, I realized these tomatoes are from California, and have nothing to do with the San Marzano reigon of Italy at all. What a dissapointment! Buyer beware: these tomatoes are not from San Marzano, and probably aren't even plum tomatoes! As for taste, it was OK, but definately I was left wondering 'where's the great, sweet, fresh flavor people say San Marzano tomatoes should have?' If you are looking for an average tomato this brand should suffice, but if you want the real San Marzano tomatoes, please save youself the dissapointment and keep looking.

I can't believe we're so busy we were deceived by this ripoff. Real San Marzano tomatoes are imported. These are not, but are marketed so that you would think so if you did not read the entire label. Shame on them!

No, hese are NOT tomatoes imported from Italy...so, now that you know that, enjoy them for what they are, a quality product grown in California. I have tried many tomatoes for sauce and these are just simply the best. They are on the pricey side, but worth it, they have such a rich flavor and absolutely NO hint of acidity like so many other canned tomatoes. Give them a try! I am honestly surprised by so many negative reviews, I suspect they are mostly people upset thinking they were purchasing an imported product, and that they are not really unhappy with the quality of the product itself.

These tomatoes are domestically grown in CA. To the person who said that they didn't know how anyone can tell where they're from, read the product description written by the manufacturer. It says "these are domestically grown tomatoes...", it also says "grown in California" right on the label.

To the person who said he had tasted them, and referred to another reviewers comments and said that person had not tasted them, please reread the review. He clearly states that he had tasted them.

As for me, I have cooked with these many times, because they were on sale at my local Safeway. They are definitely NOT the real deal! They do not look like, nor taste like real San Marzano tomatoes grown in Italy- which I have tasted and cooked with many times. They taste like any other run of the mill American grocery store brand. I agree with the 1st reviewer that their labels are false advertising, and the price they charge on Amazon is highway robbery! $4.50 + shipping- ouch! I paid about $1 per 28 oz. can (on sale) at my local market. Save your time and money- if you are looking for the real deal, this is not it. There are websites that sell nothing but real Italian products, grown in Italy, and stamped with the official Italian DOP seal.

Nancy

I teach pasta class and make sauces. A student brought in a can to try based on the lower cost. We found the tomatoes to be watery and very acidic, a very poor substitue for the real thing - I will stick to DOP.

I wish I could give this stuff zero stars. It's bad enough that the label is deceptive and obviously meant to mislead consumers, but the product is also awful. I recently was cooking with a friend and asked her to buy a can of San Marzano tomatoes for a recipe we were going to make. Not knowing better, she bought a can of these and I was stunned by how awful they were: small, round, pale, tasteless, mealy, and packed in a tomato-tinged watery liquid. I repeat what others have written here: buyer beware!

In order to get REAL San Marzano tomatoes, make sure to buy the ones marked DOP which is a government "seal of approval" basically. This brand is terrible, not even close to San Marzanos.