LEAMINGTON, ON - Congratulations go out to Double Diamond Farms, who walked away with a gold and silver proverbial medal after the points were tallied for the 9th Annual R.E.A.C.H. Greenhouse Competition on June 19th and 20th.
Jeremy Stockwell, Director of Procurement and Sales for Double Diamond, said that the company has made significant investments in the latest technology when it comes to growing and packaging its seedless cucumbers, carefully selecting varieties that provide the best in quality and taste. “These awards have definitely helped us feel vindicated for going the extra mile,” he said.
Double Diamond’s Long English Cucumber was awarded first place in the competition’s “Coolest Cucumber” category, while its Bite Size category for its Wizard Cherry tomato took second for “Hottest Tomato.”
“The competition was fantastic,” Caitlyne Johns, Double Diamond’s Director of Marketing, tells me from her experience in Leamington. “We’ve always received such positive feedback in regards to our Long English Cucumbers, especially from our customers. It’s great to have this feedback confirmed in the greenhouse competition.”
The judging process for the competition is a complex one, designed by Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Greenhouse Specialist Shalin Khosla. The system has a rigorous set of criteria for each category that factors both official judges and an audience taste test.
According to the R.E.A.C.H. site, officials spent hours judging each entry on Friday night before allowing the public in the competition tent to taste and make their own determinations for the People's Choice Award.
The entire experience was for a good cause, with all funds going towards helping R.E.A.C.H. International to continue its work caring for and sponsoring impoverished children in Uganda, Africa. R.E.A.C.H. is a charity local to Leamington that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cause.
To find out more, you can go to www.hottesttomato.com.
