A postharvest experiment was designed and carried out in order to evaluate the effects of distribution chain conditions and length on flavor-related quality attributes of fresh tomatoes. Three tomato cultivars characterized by intermediate susceptibility to postharvest handling were evaluated for their response to the conditions of distribution chains of different length. For two of them, these conditions and times produced significant effects on the formation of flavor compounds, suggesting that fruits coming from a medium or long distribution chain did not develop the same flavor profile as those exposed to a short chain.