Kingsville, Ontario-based Mastronardi Produce says it recently won 20 awards at the 17th annual Leamington Greenhouse Competitions. This is on the heels of the company winning eight awards at the Superior Taste Awards in Belgium.
“The Leamington Greenhouse Competition is one that we look forward to each year as it’s a great opportunity for our industry to unite in support of a great cause such as R.E.A.C.H International,” Paul Mastronardi, president and CEO of Mastronardi Produce, said in a news release. “As gratifying as it is to win awards on the world stage, it is very significant and rewarding to win so close to home.”
These recognitions include three Overall Best in Competition awards for Best Tomato, Best Pepper and Best Cucumber and 10 first-place awards. The company said its Sunset brand not only won Best Overall Tomato, but it’s Specialty Tomato, Valentino was the top-scoring product overall out of 184 competition entries at the Leamington Greenhouse Competitions.
The company also took home more than a third of the Chef’s Choice Awards. Mastronardi said it took home first place for Sunset Wow Berries moonberry blackberry in the Specialty Berries category and its Wow Berry dreamberry strawberry was both an award winner as well as a Chef’s Choice Winner.
The company said it also recently competed in the International Taste Institute’s Superior Taste Awards in Brussels, Belgium, earning eight Superior Taste Awards for its Campari Cocktail Tomatoes, Angel Sweet Grape Tomatoes, Bahama Bombs Grape Tomatoes On-the-Vine, Aloha tomatoes, Summer Dream raspberries, Wow dreamberry strawberries, Wow moonberry blackberries and Berryworld XL blueberries.
More than 250 professional taste experts from more than 20 countries judge the Superior Taste Awards, including top tier chefs and sommeliers, who perform rigorous evaluations in appearance, olfaction, taste and texture, the release said.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to be a part of this event that recognizes excellence in greenhouse-grown produce,” Mastronardi said. “We take great pride in continually striving towards innovations in the industry, so for our team to be recognized for their dedication to quality and flavor is a testament to their hard work.”
