Leamington Greenhouse Production Builds Steam Exiting the Winter Months
LEAMINGTON, ON - Greenhouse vegetable production in Leamington, Ontario is starting to kick into high gear as growers in the area are reporting fantastic quality across the board for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, as well as a few specialty items.
It appears that the slow start to the season due to the persistent, long winter hasn’t been much of a detriment to growers. Most companies are picking every item now while production continues to build.
Over at Double Diamond Farms, production out of Leamington is moving smoothly and the company is continuing to capitalize on the demand and excellent quality for its proprietary varieties.
“TOVs this year are fantastic all around and we’re starting to ramp up production,” said Jeremy Stockwell, Director of Procurement and Sales, Double Diamond Farms. “This season is building up to be a great one as we look forward to the warmer weather.”
“Despite the slower start, tomato production is building,” said Harold Paivarinta, Director of Sales & Business Development for Red Sun Farms. “We’re approaching peak volume with peppers and tomatoes and all of our specialties are climbing up as well. The new crop this year is fantastic.”
Matt Quiring, Sales Manager for Nature Fresh™ Farms, agreed, noting that favorable weather has resulted in “strong picks and near perfect quality for tomatoes,” he said.
The year started off extremely strong for peppers with reports of excellent quality and volume coming out of Ontario. “Picks for Ontario growers started off extremely strong,” said Quiring. “The presence of Ontario new crop bells in the marketplace, along with the beautiful product quality, has really turned some heads.”
Cucumber quality was reportedly as outstanding as ever as well. Growers are currently in the re-planting process for the item.
“Cucumber inventories are now clean and we expect this to continue another few weeks until the majority of the growers start to produce on their second planting of the year,” continued Quiring.
With the strong tomato and pepper season, SUNSET® Produce is reaping the benefits as well as it celebrates 20 years of Campari®.
“So far the season is going very well,” said Daniela Ferro, Communications Coordinator for SUNSET® Produce. “Our production is in full swing; we’re harvesting, and are very happy with everything so far. We’ve also ramped up our organic production, so we have more organic produce available now than ever before.”
Leamington production is picking up, and growers are optimistic about the start of the season. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue tracking the season’s progress.