Cool cucumbers, perfect peppers: Winners of annual Greenhouse Competitions announced

R.E.A.CH. International recently held its annual Greenhouse Competitions in Ontario, featuring “The Hottest Tomato,” “The Perfect Pepper,” “The Coolest Cucumber” and the “Best Berry” categories. This is the 16th year for these competitions, which have been running since 2007 to celebrate Essex County as the largest greenhouse industry in North America.

The Greenhouse Competitions, presented in part by farm sponsors Sunset/Mastronardi Produce Ltd. and Nature Fresh Farms, kicked off June 7 with 183 entries delivered to Kingsville Community Centre in Ontario. Entries were numbered and sorted by volunteers and then evaluated by expert judges from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, grocery store produce managers and Culinary Guild of Windsor Chefs. Entrants were judged with a specialized list of criteria developed by head judge Shalin Khosla, according to a news release.

The awards ceremony was held at Kingsville Community Church on June 9 and livestreamed at greenhousecompetitions.com. The winners received Greenhouse Competitions ceramic cup trophies and the bragging rights as the best producers in North America, the release said. 

But the Greenhouse Competitions are about more than awards and bragging rights.

R.E.A.C.H, the charity that runs the annual event, uses competition proceeds to sponsor over 40 children in Uganda annually. The sponsorships give the children and teens food, school supplies, medicine and other support they need to get an education and break the cycle of poverty, the release said.

“The new Chef's Choice awards are exciting,” Art Barron, president of R.E.A.CH. International, said in the release. “Chef Henry Furtado went through all the entries and chose some produce to inspire some appetizers that were served at the awards ceremony. He chose eight products that were each awarded Chef's Choice certificates.”

This year Kingsville-based Mastronardi Produce took home 28 awards, a company record since the competitions began in 2007, according to a news release from Mastronardi. Notably, the company won the Cocktail Tomato category in a clean sweep of all three placings. Again in Specialty Berries, Mastronardi took home first place for Sunset Wow Berries moonberry blackberry, second place for Wow angelberry raspberry and third place for BerryWorld XL Blueberries. Wow Berries went on to sweep the Strawberry category with pearberry placing first, lolliberry placing second and dreamberry placing third. The pearberry strawberry not only won Best Overall Berry, it was also the top-scoring product overall out of 183 competition entries, the release said.

Mastronardi Produce has won over 180 awards at the Leamington Greenhouse Competitions since 2007 and was the first fresh produce company to earn a Superior Taste Award in 2010, the release said.

“We are always thrilled to bring home awards for our greenhouse-grown produce, and when it comes from your hometown, it is an even bigger honor,” Paul Mastronardi, president and CEO of Mastronardi Produce Ltd., said in the release. “These are world-class competitions set in a region with deep roots in greenhouse growing. The Mastronardi family is proud to participate in the Leamington Greenhouse Competitions and support R.E.A.C.H. International, a worthy cause. We have our whole team to thank for their uncompromising dedication to quality and flavor.” 

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Leamington-based Nature Fresh Farms also took top accolades at this years' annual Greenhouse Competitions, receiving the “Overall Coolest Cucumber” and three “Chef's Choice” awards.

“Our team has invested significant focus on foodservice and understanding the importance of a products flavor, freshness, texture, and overall quality as it relates to the preparation of the eating experience for the end consumer,” Matt Quiring, Nature Fresh Farms senior vice president, sales and marketing, said in a news release from Nature Fresh Farms. “To receive such high acknowledgment in the Chef's Choice awards tells us that our continued investment and learnings in this area is paramount to our persistent success.

“We're focused on delivering the best eating experience end to end; receiving top awards in almost every category within the competition is evidence of this,” continued Quiring, adding that Nature Fresh Farms is committed to bringing awareness and education to consumers regarding the benefits of greenhouse farming and that these competitions are a way of doing so while also being able to support a worthy cause.

2023 winners in the Greenhouse Competitions