LEAMINGTON, ON - NatureFresh™ Farms’ General Manager, John Ketler, announced that the company’s newest greenhouse expansion is slated for later this year in Leamington, Ontario. Construction of a new 32-acre greenhouse facility will commence this summer, increasing the team’s presence in the tomato category in 2019, when production is scheduled to begin.
The new facility will house a variety of tomato crops, including TOMZ® Snacking Tomatoes, Tomatoes-on-the-Vine, and Beefsteak Tomatoes. The range of tomato varieties are to be grown using supplemental lighting, allowing for year-round production of fresh, Canadian-grown tomatoes, according to a press release.
NatureFresh Farms expanded its greenhouse production into the United States in 2015 with the construction of a 45-acre facility in Delta, Ohio, where it also grows TOMZ® Snacking Tomatoes, Tomatoes-on-the-Vine, and Beefsteak Tomatoes, but using High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lighting, allowing year-round availability of Ohio-grown Tomatoes.
With supplemental lighting and other innovations being launched in the new facility, the company said that its new Leamington greenhouse will be equipped with the same state-of-the-art growing technologies as seen in Ohio.
“The first full growing season in our Ohio greenhouse has been very successful so far, so with the same technology that we use in Ohio being implemented in our new Leamington greenhouse, we expect similar success,” said Matt Quiring, Executive Retail Sales Accounts Manager. “We should see higher production, greater efficiency in the growing process, and consistently high-quality products from our new Canadian greenhouse.”
This latest expansion will mean that NatureFresh Farms will be growing flavorful, high-quality tomatoes across 90-plus acres of greenhouses, and said that it looks forward to further development as a leader within the industry as it continues to meet increased market demands within the tomato category.
