Go to your local place where they sell local produce. Do your own.

15 minutes will get you primo stuff.

Jim, I've done that and look forward to the new farmer's markets. However, I have Covid, and I don't feel like going anywhere right now.

So you're referring to those aseptic cartons like juice boxes? That's technically not cardboard, but laminated paper and plastic.

Packaging has been an issue for many manufacturers because of the pandemic supply chain problems, so some have changed up their packaging out of necessity. Others try to move away from plastics.

Pomi Tomato products have come in cartons for years...

"Pomi Tomato products have come in cartons for years..."

And I've been buying them in the "cartons" for years :-) Lately have also encountered Hunts tomato sauce sold the same way. So not exactly new.

Metal cans have become scarcer. The boxes are lighter weight and cheaper. I expect to see them more often. I also have been buying the Pomi puree for probably 30 years.

Lucille, so sorry to hear you have COVID! ! ! I sincerely hope and pray it is a mild case and that you will be well again soon! !

Rusty

Get well soon! I've got those little cartons too and they are fine.

I do not like that the cartons are no longer recyclable where I live. So they go to the landfill now, but the cans can be recycled.

I've seen the cartons. I usually buy tomato sauce in glass bottles,both because I can feel fancy and I like the particular bottles I buy. I can reuse them for my halloween foolishness or sometimes I use them as vases.

This is the one I get. I suppose its not TECHNICALLY tomato SAUCE but I use it to make my pasta/meatball sauces. The bottle is a bonus.

Hope you feel better soon, Lucille.

I don't buy tomato sauce but I do get passata which is available in cartons and bottles from many manufacturers. Both are recycled here but glass is easier to do and that’s what I buy.

I hope you’re better soon, Lucille!

I imagine that the cartons are less expensive to pack and ship with no loss of quality or ease of use.

After seeing it in Europe, and after years of freezing my excess canned tomato paste by the spoonful, I found tomato paste in a tube here. Love it.

My cats wish there were cartons for their Fancy Feast because the shelves have been bare of this product for four weeks.

Buying tomato products in anything other than a can makes so much sense. Tomato eats through metal/aluminum at least when cooking!! DH's go to story on why I cook for us and he does not: When in college he made a big batch of spaghetti. As only boys would he put the entire pot full of left overs in the 'fridge for warming up another day. When he got to it again it had eaten tiny holes in the bottom of the pot.

I've never noticed tomato products in boxes but I've never looked for them either. I do buy beef and chicken broth in the boxes so I can measure the amount I need rather than rely on the can size. Most recipes call for one or two cups and the stupid cans are now 14.5 oz. instead of the old 16 (two cups).

I'll have to look for the boxes next time I shop as well as the tomato paste in the tube. I hate trying to get all of the paste out of those tiny cans.

"the tomato paste in the tube. I hate trying to get all of the paste out of those tiny cans."

And it is inevitably more than the recipe calls for.....so what do you do with the rest?

I have been buying Trader Joe's tomato paste in a tube for years. Squeeze out as much as you need and the rest is good until needed again!

Lucille, sending you wishes for a continued mild case and a speedy recovery!!

I have been buying Trader Joe's tomato paste in a tube for years. Squeeze out as much as you need and the rest is good until needed again!

Hopefully some other stores besides Trader Joe's carries it around here. There are only two TJ's in the Kansas City metro and the closest one is about a 35 mile drive from my house and not at all convenient.

Feel better, Lucille!

@LoneJack Zn 6a, KC, you should be able to find the tubes. If not, put the can of tomato paste in the freezer for awhile to harden up. Open both ends of the can and push out the cylinder of tomato paste. Wrap and keep frozen and just slice off as needed. I've been buying the tubed stuff at both TJ's and Sprouts for a long time. It's also pretty easy to find at the larger grocery stores here.