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Inagri-food studies, two apparently opposed trends have been observed: on the onehand, the industrialization and standardization of food production; on theother, the construction and patrimonialization of “local” and “excellent” foodproducts. This presentation aims at exploring such tension, with a focus on thecase of pomodori pelati (whole peeledtomatoes) in Southern Italy. The pelati(more than other types of canned tomatoes) are described by producers as an“excellent” food, which is “typical” of Southern Italy. Nonetheless, for manyreasons this production can be considered as an “industrial” one. Indeed, ifits origin can be traced in the hills of Campania region, since the mid 1980smost agricultural production has been delocalized in the large plains of Pugliaregion, basically to “industrialize” it; seeds and plants are mostly producedby multinational corporations, tomatoes are massively harvested by migrantlabourers, who experience dramatic work and life conditions during the harvestseason, and are canned in relatively big plants. Thepresentation is based on about 40 qualitative interviews collected between 2010and 2017, with farmers, canning plants’ owners and technicians, and members ofthe staff of retail chains. The analysis focuses on how these actors interpretand give sense to the above-described tension. A number of interviewees arguethat the complete industrialization of both the agricultural production and thecanning process of pelati is simply notpossible, because of the intrinsic features of this kind of tomato. Conversely,other actors question that pelati arean “excellent” food, and accuse their counterparts in the supply chain of badpractices in the production. In this sense, Southern Italian pelati seem to be in a difficult andambiguous position – neither genuinely “typical”, nor completely “industrial” –in global food markets. Contemporarily, new products have been “invented”, forexample through the recovery of “really authentic” varieties of tomatoes. Suchproducts are often sold under the retail chains’ private labels. If these “new”products do not necessarily renounce to “industrial” production practices, theyare generally more expensive and addressed to niches of richer consumers. 