[2] The San Marzano vines are an indeterminate type[3] and have a somewhat longer season than other paste tomato varieties, making them particularly suitable for warmer climates.

Heirloom plant conservationist Amy Goldman Fowler calls the San Marzano "the most important industrial tomato of the 20th century"; its commercial introduction in 1926 provided canneries with a "sturdy, flawless subject, and breeders with genes they'd be raiding for decades".

[5] Canned San Marzanos, when grown in the Valle del Sarno ('Valley of the Sarno') in Italy in compliance with Italian law, can be classified as pomodoro di San Marzano dell'agro sarnese-nocerino and have the European Union PDO emblem on the label.

[7] San Marzano tomatoes originated in the small town of San Marzano sul Sarno, in the province of Salerno, near Naples, Italy, and were first grown in volcanic soil in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.

One story goes that the first seed of this tomato came to Campania in 1770, as a gift from the Viceroyalty of Peru to the Kingdom of Naples, and that it was planted in the area of San Marzano sul Sarno.