Duke's ends 'Hot Tomato Summer' after five-year run

Duke’s, the locally-beloved mayo behemoth, says it’s dropping its Hot Tomato Summer restaurant partnership after a five-year run.

The event, which began in Richmond and later spread to seven Southern cities, partnered dozens of restaurants to promote tomato-mayo dishes concocted for the event.

Duke’s Mayo said in an email to The Richmonder that, “as a brand, we’re shifting our focus to some new and exciting things – and we hope to stay connected moving forward.”

“We're truly appreciative of the restaurants who have brought this program to life and showed up for Duke's along the way.”

Duke's is a part of Sauer Brands, one of Richmond's most famous homegrown businesses, dating to 1887.

Sauer's food businesses were sold to Falfurrias Capital Partners in 2019. Falfurrias then sold the brands to Advent International, which describes itself as "a leading global private equity investor," last year.

The Hot Tomato Summer event was a local favorite, introducing locals to instant classics like tomato basil ice cream with a mayo swirl from Scoop and bagels that both looked and tasted like tomatoes from Baltik’s.

At its peak, more than 100 restaurants in the city participated.

Contact Reporter Ned Oliver at noliver@richmonder.org