LEAMINGTON, ON – Good things are coming to the North American market in small packages this season. NatureFresh™ Farms and Eminent Seeds NL announced today that they have reached a proprietary agreement to bring “the World’s Smallest Tomato” to North America; NatureFresh™ Farms will exclusively grow and market Tomberry® tomatoes in Canada, United States, and Mexico.
“We are pleased to partner with Eminent NL” said Peter Quiring, President and Owner of NatureFresh™ Farms, in a press release. “This is a perfect fit to complement our TOMZ® snacking category and our brand strategy. We want to grow and market the best tasting tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, and we are excited to offer this for the first time from our Leamington, Ontario, greenhouse starting next spring. Our research team works hard at identifying these new varieties that taste exceptional, and we look forward to the new opportunities they provide for future consumers.”
“The World’s Smallest Tomato,” The Tomberry® tomato is about 0.5 to 1 cm in diameter with an average fruit weight of 1 to 2 grams.
Jan van Heijningen, Director at Eminent Group, and John Ketler, Farm Manager at NatureFresh™ Farms, finalized the agreement during the 2017 PMA Fresh Summit in New Orleans early this month. Under the terms of the deal, NatureFresh™ Farms will begin growing and commercially marketing this new variety of tomato from its Leamington, Ontario, Greenhouse in spring of 2018. The company plans to expand production of the Tomberry® tomato over the next few years, as the category grows to meet consumer demands for snacking tomatoes.
“The Tomberry® is unique in size and has caught the interest of our retail partners” explained Matt Quiring, Executive Retail Sales Manager for NatureFresh™ Farms. “The snacking trend in North America has exploded, and we continue to search for new items that will help grow our snacking category. This pearl-sized fruit’s unique size is something hard to miss and even more difficult to pass by without picking up. Once a consumer tries them, we are confident that they will be coming back for more. Visually, it is candy to the eyes. From a sensory standpoint, we can back that up.”
Over the past year, NatureFresh™ Farms’ trial and development team has worked with Eminent NL Seeds to explore new tomato varieties that would fit the growing trend in the snacking category. The company notes that Tomberry® both delivers on flavor and brings a new look and ingredient to the culinary world of food service. Tomberry® tomatoes are versatile and visually appealing and are ideally suited for snacking, salads, and hot dishes.
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