On June 15, 2022, R.E.A.CH. International held its annual Greenhouse Competitions including “The Hottest Tomato,” “The Perfect Pepper,” “The Coolest Cucumber” and the “Best Berry” Competitions.
This year featured the addition of a Specialty Berry category and the Chef’s Choice Awards, according to a news release.
“We are so excited about these new chef’s choice awards,” Art Barron, president of R.E.A.CH. International, said in the release. “Chef Henry Furtado had 136 products to go through and choose some produce to inspire some appetizers that were served at the awards ceremony. He chose 11 products that were each awarded Chef’s Choice certificates.”
These competitions have been running since 2007 to celebrate Essex County for being the largest greenhouse industry in North America, the release said. The charity which runs the annual event uses the proceeds from the competition to sponsor over 50 children in Uganda, Africa, annually, the release said. 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 local Greenhouse Fame while sponsoring some of the poorest children and families in the world, according to the release. 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, according to the release.
The Greenhouse Competitions, presented in part by farm sponsors Red Sun Farms and 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 judges across Essex County, the release said. 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 the Head Judge, Shalin Khosla, the release said.
The awards ceremony was held in person at Kingsville Community Church and broadcast as a live stream at noon on Friday, June 17th. To watch the recording of the award ceremony visit greenhousecompetitions.com. The winners received newly designed ceramic cup 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 that help our community.
2022 Winners in the Greenhouse Capital of North America are:
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Cocktail Cucumbers | SCORE | |||
CC318 | Nature Fresh Farms | Tiny Cocktail Cucumber | 811.1 | |
CC218 | Pure Flavor | Poco Bites Cucumber | 811.0 | |
CC065 | Topline Farms | Huge Cruncher | 758.3 | |
Mini Cucumbers | SCORE | |||
CM325 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Mini Cucumber | 905.6 | |
CM217 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Mini Cucumber | 891.7 | |
CM085 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sunset Mini Cuke | 863.9 | |
English Cucumbers | SCORE | |||
CE115 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sunset English Cukes | 811.1 | |
CE382 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Long English | 727.8 | |
CE286 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Long English Cucumber | 725.0 | |
Overall Best Cucumber | ||||
CM325 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Mini Cucumber | 905.6 | |
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Red Bell Pepper | SCORE | |||
PR232 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Red Bell Pepper | 980.0 | |
PR549 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Sweet Red Bell | 933.3 | |
PR118 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sunset Red Bell Pepper | 893.3 | |
Yellow Bell Pepper | SCORE | |||
PY024 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Yellow Bell | 850.0 | |
PY375 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sunset Yellow Bell Pepper | 836.7 | |
PY549 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Yellow Bell Pepper | 760.0 | |
Orange Bell Pepper |
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SCORE | ||
PO515 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Orange Bell Pepper | 980.0 | |
PO241 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Sweet Orange Bell | 923.3 | |
PO127 | Mucci Farms | Mucci Orange Bell Pepper | 903.3 | |
Specialty Mini Pepper | SCORE | |||
PM762 | Mucci Farms | Bella Sweets | 826.7 | |
PM178 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | One Sweet Pepper | 823.3 | |
PM083 | DelFrescoPure | Sweetreats | 806.7 | |
Specialty Long Pepper | SCORE | |||
PL379 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Wildwonder (Brown) | 823.3 | |
PL542 | Mucci Farms | Rustico | 790.0 | |
PL017 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Wildwonder (Red) | 763.3 | |
Hot Pepper | SCORE | |||
PH452 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Yowzer Pepper | 848.5 | |
PH128 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Jalepeno | 845.5 | |
PH649 | Mucci Farms | Mucci Ghost Pepper | 830.3 | |
Hottest Pepper was PH362 - Mucci Farms Carolina Reaper | ||||
Overall Best Pepper | ||||
PR232 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Red Bell Pepper | 980.0 | |
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Strawberry | SCORE | |||
SS205 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Pear Berry | 470.2 | |
SS054 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Lolliberry | 461.4 | |
SS005 | DelFrescoPure | Yes! Berries | 415.8 | |
Specialty Berry | SCORE | |||
SB584 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Berry World Raspberry | 301.8 | |
SDB125 | Nature Fresh Farms | Bashful Strawberries | 215.8 | |
Overall Best Berry | ||||
SS205 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Pear Berry | 470.2 | |
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Beefsteak | SCORE | |||
TB342 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Beefsteak Tomato #2 | 905.6 | |
TB055 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sunset Beefsteak Tomato | 852.8 | |
TB404 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Beefsteak Tomato #1 | 811.1 | |
TOV/Cluster | SCORE | |||
TV268 | Mucci Farms | Prova | 795.8 | |
TV107 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sunset TOV #1 | 794.4 | |
TV622 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor TOV | 769.4 | |
Roma | SCORE | |||
TR825 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Roma | 839.9 | |
TR154 | Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Roma Tomato | 719.4 | |
TR052 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sunset Romana | 663.9 | |
Cocktail | SCORE | |||
TC104 | DelFrescoPure | Delights | 852.8 | |
TC943 | Nature Fresh Farms | Black Label Yoom | 813.9 | |
TC113 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Kumato | 800.0 | |
Specialty Tomato | SCORE | |||
TS416 | Nature Fresh Farms | Black Label Hiiro’s | 972.2 | |
TS217 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Valentino | 925.0 | |
TS162 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Moonglow | 913.9 | |
Bitesize | SCORE | |||
TM582 | Red Sun Farms | Sweet Pops | 808.1 | |
TM389 | Nature Fresh Farms | Black Label Hiiro’s | 805.6 | |
TM116 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Angel Sweet | 763.9 | |
Overall Best Tomato | ||||
TS416 | Nature Fresh Farms | Black Label Hiiro’s | 972.2 | |
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Hottest Tomato | ||||
TC157 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Yoom Cocktail Tomato | ||
TV009 | DelFrescoPure | Delfresco T.O.V. | ||
TS217 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Valentino Specialty Tomato | ||
TS018 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Sprinkles Specialty Tomato | ||
Perfect Pepper | ||||
PL125 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Wildwonder (Yellow) Long Pepper | ||
PR232 | Nature Fresh Farms | Nature Fresh Red Bell Pepper | ||
PL379 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Wildwonder (Brown) Long Pepper | ||
PH362 | Mucci Farms | Carolina Reaper Hot Pepper | ||
Coolest Cucumber | ||||
CM485 | Topline Farms | Topline Mini Cucumbers | ||
CM318 | Nature Fresh Farms | Tiny Cocktail Cucumbers | ||
Best Berry | ||||
SS054 | Sunset Mastronardi Produce | Lolliberry Strawberry | ||
