2019 Winners
| June 15, 2019
Greenhouse Competitions Bring Hope to Uganda
On June 14-16, 2019 at the Leamington Fair, R.E.A.CH. International hosted its 12th annual Greenhouse Competitions including “The Hottest Tomato”, “The Perfect Pepper”, “The Coolest Cucumber” and the “Sweetest Strawberry” Competitions. Greenhouse Industry growers and marketers entered their premium produce into the competitions which celebrate Essex County as being the largest greenhouse industry in North America. The proceeds from the competition raises enough money to sponsor over 50 children in Uganda, Africa annually. The sponsorships give the children food, school supplies, medicine and everything else they need to get an education and break the cycle of poverty.
You wouldn’t naturally associate greenhouses with international child sponsorships but that’s exactly what’s 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.
These unique competitions, presented in part by Nature Fresh Farms, Red Sun Farms. QU Truck Bodies and UCB Canada, happen in two stages. First, on Friday evening, expert judges from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), grocery store produce managers, Culinary Guild of Windsor Chefs, and many others, judge entries with a specialized list of criteria. Second, throughout Friday and Saturday, we poled the public for their favourite Tomato, Pepper, Cucumber and Strawberry for the “People’s Choice” awards. Our “Kids’ Choice” voters were especially excited about the Strawberry category!
The Awards Ceremony, held on Saturday evening, awarded beautiful crystal trophies and bragging rights to all the best producers in North America.
And the 2019 Winners in the Greenhouse Capital of North America are:
| Hottest Tomato Competition | ||
| Beefsteak Category | ||
| Nature Fresh | Beefsteak | 877 |
| 2nd place | Pure Flavor Beefsteak | 850 |
| 3rd place | Sunset Slicer Beef | 806.3 |
| Cluster Category | ||
| Nature Fresh | Fresh Ontario Red 1 | 916.7 |
| 2nd place | Red Sun Farms Petites | 900 |
| 3rd place | Nature Fresh Ontario Red 2 | 894.4 |
| Roma Category | ||
| Pure Flavor | Pure Flavor Roma | 888.9 |
| 2nd place | Nature Fresh Roma | 858.3 |
| 3rd place | Sunset Roma | 707.2 |
| Cocktail Category | ||
| Sunset Produce | Sunset Cocktail 1 | 825 |
| 2nd place | Sunset Kumato | 781.3 |
| 3rd place | Sunset Cocktail 2 | 806.7 |
| Specialty Category | ||
| Nature Fresh | Tomz Orange Cherry | 918.8 |
| 2nd place | Sunset Flavour Bombs | 910.4 |
| 3rd place | Sunset Sugar Bombs | 900 |
| Bite Size Category | ||
| Mucci Farms | Cherto | 875 |
| 2nd place | Lakeside Produce Sweetella | 863.9 |
| 3rd place | Red Sun Sweet Pops | 858.3 |
| Overall Best Tomato | ||
| Nature Fresh | Tomz Orange Cherry | 918.8 |
| People’s Choice Tomato | ||
| Nature Fresh | Tomberries | |
| Kid’s Choice Tomato | ||
| Nature Fresh | Tomberries | |
| Coolest Cucumber Competition | ||
| English Cucumber | ||
| Nature Fresh | English Cucumber | 886 |
| 2nd place | Pure Flavor English | 717 |
| 3rd place | Sunset English | 711 |
| Mini Cucumber | ||
| AMCO Produce | Amco Mini | 818 |
| 2nd place | Nature Fresh Mini Seedless | 783.3 |
| 3rd place | Red Sun Mini Seedless | 776.7 |
| Cocktail Cucumber | ||
| Sunset Produce | Sunset Cocktail Cukes | 785.4 |
| 2nd place | Mucci Farms Cutecumbers | 783.3 |
| 3rd place | Topline Cocktail | 758.3 |
| Overall Best Cucumber | ||
| Nature Fresh | English Cucumber | 886 |
| People’s Choice Cucumber | ||
| Sunset Produce | Cloud Cukes | |
| Kid’s Choice Cucumber | ||
| Sunset Produce | Cloud Cukes | |
| Perfect Pepper Competition | ||
| Red Bell Pepper | ||
| Pure Flavor | Red Pepper | 856.8 |
| 2nd place | Del Fresco Red Pepper | 856 |
| 3rd place | Sunset Red Bell | 845.5 |
| Yellow Bell Pepper | ||
| Del Fresco | Yellow Pepper | 865.9 |
| 2nd place | Pure Flavor Yellow Bell | 829.5 |
| 3rd place | Nature Fresh Yellow Bell | 795.5 |
| Orange Bell Pepper | ||
| Sunset Produce | Orange Bell | 793.2 |
| 2nd place | Nature Fresh Orange Bell | 777.3 |
| 3rd place | Orangeline Orange Bell | 765.9 |
| Specialty Mini Pepper – a tie for first place! | ||
| Mucci Farms | Sweet to the Point | 915.2 |
| Nature Fresh | Red Snack | 915.2 |
| 2nd place | Nature Fresh Orange Snack | 900 |
| Specialty Bell Pepper | ||
| Sunset Produce | Aloha | 906.1 |
| 2nd place | Amco Produce | 884.8 |
| 3rd place | Orangeline Chocolate Bell | 872.7 |
| Specialty Long Pepper | ||
| Sunset Produce | Red Sweet Twister | 830.3 |
| 2nd place | Nature Fresh Yellow Long | 830 |
| 3rd place | Mucci Farms Rustico | 824.2 |
| Specialty Hot Pepper | ||
| Orangeline | Spicy Chef Sampler | 841.8 |
| 2nd place | Sunset Kaboom | 821.8 |
| 3rd place | Pure Flavor Stingrays | 752.7 |
| Overall Best Pepper – Tied | ||
| Mucci Farms | Sweet to the Point | 915.2 |
| Nature Fresh | Red Snack | 915.2 |
| People’s Choice Pepper | ||
| Orangeline | Brown Shepherd | |
| Kid’s Choice Pepper | ||
| Sunset Produce | Aloha Pepper | |
| Sweetest Strawberry Competition | ||
| Overall Best Strawberry | ||
| Sunset Produce | Dreamberry | 888.9 |
| 2nd place | Orangeline Datenight | 857.8 |
| 3rd place | Sunset Pearberry | 813.3 |
| People’s Choice Strawberry | ||
| Delfresco | Yes Berries | |
| Kid’s Choice Strawberry | ||
| Mucci Farms | Smuccies |
R.E.A.CH. is a small charity run entirely by local volunteers. This small but mighty group has raised several thousands of dollars to build schools & clinics, create clean water sources, and sponsor and care for impoverished children in Uganda, Africa. Their unique program guarantees that 100% of child-sponsorship dollars goes to help the children. Separate fundraisers, such as this one, raise money for operating expenses. Since we’re all volunteers, our expenses are very low. Whatever we raise beyond those expenses also goes to our humanitarian projects.
