Greenhouse competitions return after missed year due to pandemic

On June 9, R.E.A.CH. International brought back its annual Greenhouse Competitions, including The Hottest Tomato, The Perfect Pepper, The Coolest Cucumber and the Sweetest Strawberry competitions. After cancelling the competitions in 2020 due the pandemic, the local greenhouse industry and R.E.A.CH. charity volunteers were thrilled the competitions were brought back, redesigned to be contactless to protect the contestants, volunteers and judges.

Considering the massive crop losses and challenges faced due to the pandemic, greenhouse industry growers and marketers still entered 125 products into the competitions, just 25 less than the last event, held in 2019. R.E.A.CH. also collected over 3,000 pounds of produce donations from each contestant to donate locally to the Gleaners and to local food banks.

These unique competitions that have been running since 2007 celebrate Essex County for being the largest greenhouse industry in North America. And the charity which runs the annual event uses the proceeds from the competition to sponsor over 50 children in Uganda, Africa, annually. These sponsorships give the children and teens food, school supplies, medicine, and everything else they need to get an education and break the cycle of poverty.

A Very Different Kind of Charity: You wouldn’t naturally associate greenhouses with international child sponsorships but that’s exactly what has happened. R.E.A.CH. International, the Canadian registered child-sponsorship charity, run completely by local volunteers, has been hosting an annual event that both celebrates our local Greenhouse Fame while sponsoring some of the poorest children and families in the world. After many other charity scandals, people are often skeptical about what goes on in charities, which is why R.E.A.CH. International is so intriguing. With no staff taking salaries, the charity is one of the very few that can guarantee that 100% of donated funds will be used for the intended purposes.

The Greenhouse Competitions, presented in part by Nature Fresh Farms, started on Wednesday morning. Produce was delivered to Kingsville Community Centre to be numbered and sorted by volunteers and then delivered to 30 judges across Essex County. Once judges received their package of produce, it was time to evaluate and enter scores into a secured online database. These expert judges from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), grocery store produce managers, Culinary Guild of Windsor Chefs, and many others, judged the entries with a specialized list of criteria developed by head judge Shalin Khosla.

The awards ceremony was broadcast as a live stream at 3 p.m. June 11, produced by Wolting Photography. To watch the recording of the award ceremony visit greenhousecompetitions.com. As per safety requirements, the winners were delivered their beautiful crystal trophies and, of course, the bragging rights as the best producers in North America. Photos of the winners receiving their awards can be found at the website.

This year’s event will sponsor another 50 children and teens to attend school, meet medical, clothing or housing needs in Uganda, Africa, the third poorest nation in the world. And with the additional donations, as every year, R.E.A.CH. was able to continue to partner with and support the efforts of local charities who help our community.

To become involved in this small but highly impactful charity, visit reaching.org.

And the 2021 Winners in the Greenhouse Capital of North America are:

Coolest Cucumber Competition
Cocktail Cukes			Score
CC287	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	One Sweet Cucumber	814.6
CC101	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Qukes	795.8
CC012	Westmoreland Topline Produce	Topline Cocktail Cukes	791.7
English Cucumber
CE284	Mucci Farms	Mucci English Cuke	808.3
CE421	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh English Cuke	796.7
CE112	Pure Flavor, Pure Hothouse Foods	Pure Flavor English	793.3
Mini Seedless Cukes
CM324	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Sunset Mini Seedless	863.3
CM158	Mucci Farms	Mucci Mini Seedless	836.7
CM015	Westmoreland Topline Produce	Topline Mini Seedless	750.0
BEST OVERALL CUCUMBER
CM324	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Sunset Mini Seedless	863.3
Hottest Tomato Competition
Beefsteak Tomato
TB125	Pure Flavor, Pure Hothouse Foods	Pure Flavor Beef	845.8
TB287	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh Beefsteak	804.2
TB084	DelFrescoPure	DelFrescoPure Beefsteak	797.9
Bite-Size Tomato
TM271	Nature Fresh Farms	Umami	918.3
TM168	Nature Fresh Farms	Orange Cherry	895.0
TM511	Nature Fresh Farms	Axiany	841.7
Cocktail Tomato
TC124	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Campari	796.7
TC155	Mucci Farms	Sapori	788.3
TC941	DelFrescoPure	Delights	775.0
Roma Tomato
TR641	Mucci Farms	Mucci Roma	790.0
TR045	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Sunset Roma	731.7
TR841	Nature Fresh Farms	Roma 21	706.7
Specialty Tomato
TS784	Nature Fresh Farms	Orange Cherry	877.8
TS812	Mucci Farms	Cherto	827.8
TS614	Mucci Farms	Sundrops	826.4
T.O.V./Cluster Tomato
TV264	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh TOV	816.7
TV315	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh TOV	725.0
TV185	Pure Flavor, Pure Hothouse Foods	Pure Flavor TOV	680.0
BEST OVERALL TOMATO
TM271	Nature Fresh Farms	Umami	918.3
Perfect Pepper Competition
Hot Peppers				Heat rank
PH085	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Yowzers	834.5	360
PH128	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Kaboom!	798.2	380
Orange Bell (sweet) Pepper
PO512	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Sunset Orange Bell	850.0
PO054	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh Orange Bell	827.5
PO125	Mucci Farms	Mucci Orange Bell	815.0
Red Bell (sweet) Pepper
PR005	DelFrescoPure	Red Bell Sweet	856.0
PR234	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh Red Bell	828.0
PR547	Pure Flavor, Pure Hothouse Foods	Pure Flavor Red Bell	820.0
Specialty Bell (sweet) Pepper
PS008	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Aloha	808.0
Specialty Long (sweet) Pepper
PL122	Mucci Farms	Rustico	887.5
PL375	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Wild Wonders Brown	855.0
PL761	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Wild Wonders Red	852.5
Specialty Mini Pepper
PM642	Mucci Farms	Sweet To The Point	878.0
PM084	DelFrescoPure	Sweet Treats	852.0
PM174	Mucci Farms	Bella Sweets	806.0
Yellow Bell (sweet) Pepper
PY371	Pure Flavor, Pure Hothouse Foods	Pure Flavor Yellow Bell	844.0
PY687	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh Yellow Bell	810.0
PY544	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Sunset Yellow Bell	798.0
BEST OVERALL PEPPER
PL122	Mucci Farms	Rustico	887.5
Sweetest Strawberry Competition
Greenhouse Strawberries
SS124	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Dreamberry	740.9
SS205	Nature Fresh Farms	Nature Fresh Strawberry	695.5
SS684	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Sunset Strawberry	688.6
BEST OVERALL STRAWBERRY
SS124	Sunset Mastronardi Produce	Dreamberry	740.9

Greenhouse competitions return after missed year due to pandemic

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