Consumers line up to support local greenhouse tomato producer May 11, 2021
With reduced orders from local food establishments and an influx of foreign product, Tim Verbeek of Platinum Produce says his greenhouse tomatoes have nowhere to go.
When Platinum Produce found themselves facing a surplus of tomatoes they couldn’t move in their own province, they turned to social media. Consumers, hungry for local produce, responded and the posts went viral.
Within 24 hours, co-owner Tim Verbeek and wife, Bonnie, found visitors lined up outside of their greenhouse’s roadside produce stand in Blenheim, Ont. Over the next few days, they would be visited by hundreds of customers from Sarnia, London, the Greater Toronto Area and even from Kingston. To manage the high volume of traffic, they turned the stand into a drive thru.
A salad mix on Paul Healey’s farm has 150 types of greens in it, but the only ones he can sell must be no more than four inches long.
His customers are primarily local restaurants, which often look for uniform vegetable sizes. It’s specifications like that, along with other barriers, that he says leads to food loss for his Lower Mainland business.
“It’s absolutely perfect food,” he says, mourning the waste. “Mizuna will only be that right size for two days, and then two days after, it’s done.”
Get top stories in your inbox.
Our award-winning journalists bring you the news that impacts you, Canada, and the world. Don t miss out.
Article content
Come Together CK volunteers are taking tomatoes from the greenhouse to your house.
They were on Chatham’s north side on May 5, handing out thousands at home and to pedestrians.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser. Tomatoes helping to bring Chatham-Kent citizens together Back to video
The tomatoes were purchased from Blenheim-area greenhouse Platinum Produce, which was selling $5 flats to a long line-up of customers rather than let the tomatoes spoil. COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants had left the greenhouse with a surplus of produce.
One donor purchased enough for the community of Shrewsbury, so volunteers went door to door this past weekend giving away more than 2,000 tomatoes. That inspired the tomato drive in Chatham.
Article content
Come Together CK volunteers are taking tomatoes from the greenhouse to your house.
They were on Chatham’s north side Wednesday, handing out thousands at home and to pedestrians.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser. Tomatoes bring Chatham-Kent citizens together Back to video
The tomatoes were bought from Blenheim-area greenhouse Platinum Produce, which was selling $5 flats to a long lineup of customers last week rather than let the tomatoes go bad. COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants had left the business with a surplus of produce.
One donor bought enough for the village of Shrewsbury, so volunteers went door to door this past weekend giving away more than 2,000 tomatoes. That inspired Wednesday’s tomato drive in Chatham.
Canada greenhouse grower goes viral with tomato deal
Queues for up to 2 hours, people driving up to six hours to buy tomatoes. That s what happened this week at the Ontario greenhouse company Platinum Produce. For only 5 CAD per flat, they sold over 21 skids of surplus tomatoes on their curbside. A great success, but more is going on there. “The costs of operating a greenhouse have gone through the roof. We need the support of our community.”
Within a week, the team with Platinum Produce sold 21 skids of tomatoes, each containing 80 flats. People from across Southwestern Ontario have been driving for hours to their stand to buy the tomatoes. It’s the result of a Facebook post by Bonnie Verbeek with Platinum Produce. Since the greenhouse growers could not move all their products, they were forced to throw it away. Hesitant to do so, she decided to post it online and organize a tomato sale: for only 5, 10 per flat, consumers could buy fresh, locally grown greenhouse beefsteak t