The first Frank & Able tomatoes-on-the-vine from an expanded greenhouse have been shipped.
The tomatoes left the Redcliff, Alberta, facility in early November just ahead of the first snowfall, according to a news release. The brand doubled its greenhouse production under lights to 10 acres at the site, said Kelsey Van Lissum, marketing communications specialist for Oppenheimer Group, a Frank & Able partner since the spring.
Eight more acres at the site are without lights, and that production area does not have a winter crop and will be replanted for the spring crop, Van Lissum said.
“When you experience the harsh conditions of a winter on the prairies, you recognize pretty quickly why the production of vegetables in our area isn’t an endeavor many sought out. Fueled by an excitement to fill the void of local produce in the market, we take on these environmental challenges with a state-of-the-art facility along with a knowledge and passion for growing,” Dirk Vis, general manager, said in the release. Dirk and Keith Vis and their brother-in-law, Devin Jaspers, own Frank & Able’s Sunshine Greenhouse.
