Greenhouse pepper, cucumber acres up in Ontario

By Coral Beach

From The Packer: LEAMINGTON, Ontario — Greenhouse growers continue to increase their acreage in Ontario, especially along the northern shore of Lake Erie, as they work on fine-tuning their plantings to meet demands.

Acreage for peppers is up at several greenhouses for 2013, with 33 percent of the province’s greenhouse acres planted in peppers, compared to 29 percent in 2012, according to the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers Association.

Mor Gro Farms Inc., home of the SmartyBrand, this year has 10 acres of peppers at what used to be mainly a tomato operation with a few cucumbers, said Tom Trojniak, director of marketing and logistics.

Plantings of mini and specialty peppers are up at several other greenhouses, but bells in green, red, yellow and orange remain the most popular.

Orangeline Farms Ltd., Leamington, expects its first bells of 2013 to be ready beginning the second week of February, said Jordan Kniaziew, vice president of sales and marketing.

Specialty peppers branded as Aurora Bites are among Pure Hot House’s signature products and continue to sell well, said Jamie Moracci, president of the Leamington-based company.

Moracci said he thinks specialty peppers will continue to be a growth area, but he stopped short of predicting pricing points, saying it’s a wait-and-see situation.

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