Pure Flavor

The city of Leamington, Ontario, is known as the “Tomato Capital” of Canada and as the country’s southernmost point has earned another nickname – the Sun Parlour of Canada. It’s also home to North America’s largest concentration of commercial greenhouses. It’s been a farming area for many years, primarily growing tobacco, but as demand for that crop declined many growers switched over to hydroponic greenhouses. The hydroponic industry is only 70 years old, but the benefits of year-round production are helping to meet the demand from foodservice and retail alike.

Pure Hothouse Foods is one of those hydroponic greenhouse growers in Leamington. The vegetable product lines are grown veggies to perfection, according to the company, so customers receive superior looking product that arrives at the peak of freshness. Pure Hot House grows beefsteak tomatoes, tomatoes on the vine, sweet bell peppers, seedless cucumbers and baby eggplants in Leamington, as well as in growing locations in British Columbia and Mexico. Distribution centers in Ontario, Taylor, Mich., and Texas means product can be shipped to most major markets within 24 hours.

Pure Hothouse growers use one of two hydroponic systems: liquid or aggregate, according to the company’s website. Liquid systems have no supporting medium for the plant roots, whereas aggregate uses a solid medium for roots. The systems can also be open, where nutrients are taken up by amendments to the soil through the root structure, or closed, where surplus solution is recovered and recycled. The growing operations at Pure Hot House Farms use glass greenhouses and plastic cover, which provide temperature control, reduce water loss from evaporation and reduce disease and pest infestations, according to the company.

In addition to year-round production and protection from inclement weather, hydroponic greenhouse production offers other benefits: It allows growers to use water and fertilizers more efficiently; more product can be grown in a smaller area; better disease and pest control and improved soil management.

Pure Hothouse Foods recently expanded into the fresh-cut market with a line designed to make grilling out easy. The Pure Flavor Grill Ready Vegetable Mix has seven different blends of fresh-cut vegetables packed in ready-to-cook trays that can be used on the grill, in the oven or in the microwave. The product line has a premium medley, fall blend, steak topper, pepper medley, pepper/onion blend, sweet potato blend and asparagus blend.

The fresh-cut products are grown in-house in Pure Hothouse greenhouses or by suppliers, then are cut, triple-washed and packed in a tray that is designed to go right on the grill, in the oven or in the microwave. The tray is covered with a clear plastic film that allows retailers to display the fresh, colorful product inside. The film also includes cooking instructions and directs consumers to the company’s Facebook and Twitter accounts for recipe ideas. The packs range from 10 ounces to 14 ounces depending on the mix.

Food safety is an important aspect to any fresh-cut or whole product, and Pure Hothouse has a commitment to providing safe, healthful products, Moracci said. Earlier this year, the company was recognized with a perfect score of 100 under the Primus GFS certification, which covers all areas of production from pre- and postharvest to handling, processing, warehouse and distribution.

The Pure Flavor Grill Ready Vegetable Mixes were a hit at May’s United Fresh Show in New Orleans. The product line was selected as a finalist for the Best New Vegetable Product award, and after the votes were tallied, attendees selected the Pure Hot House Farms product as the best in show.

“This is an honor and it continues to fuel our commitment to bringing fresh, exciting, and value-added products to the market place,” said Jamie Moracci, president of Pure Hothouse Foods. “There were a lot of great entries into this category, so we’re extremely honored by this first place win. A lot of hard work has gone into the development of our Grill Ready Vegetable Mixes by the entire team here at Pure Flavor, and we’re excited to be recognized by our peers in the industry for that work.”

“Our commitment to new products comes from all employees at Pure Hothouse Foods, and we’re proud of this addition to our superior product line, outstanding customer service, and highest quality and food safe products,” Moracci said.

The company’s commitment to high-quality products was obvious to attendees at the United Fresh show, but it has also won praise from the fresh market. Last month, Pure Hothouse took home four awards in the Perfect Pepper competition, sponsored by REACH International. The company’s Pure Flavor Pepper, a specialty sweet pepper, won best overall pepper and best specialty pepper, and Pure Hothouse also was awarded for the best orange pepper and best green pepper. This was the second year in a row that Pure Hothouse won best overall and best specialty pepper in the competition, which takes place during the Leamington Fair in June.

“We’re very proud of our continuing success and back-to-back wins at this competition,” Moracci said. “We’ve got a great team of growers who work extremely hard to grow quality, great tasting vegetables and these awards really highlight their consistent dedication and skill. With such impressive competition locally, we’re especially honored by these wins and proud of our relatively new and soon to be branded sweet long pepper – firm and crisp with few seeds, its incredibly sweet flavor makes it perfect for snacking and grilling.”

-Published in the July 2011 issue of Fresh Cut