With tomatoes topping the organic produce shopper’s list, and demand for greenhouse grown fruits and vegetables at an all-time high, the launch of O-tomato, O-cucumber, O-pepper, and O-sardinia couldn’t have happened at a better time, according to John Anderson, the company’s chairman, president and CEO.

Oppenheimer recently introduced this range of greenhouse grown organic items produced by South Alder Greenhouses, Ltd. of Delta, BC. And while the timing is ideal, these organic products have been under development for several years.

“Our growers had the foresight to anticipate key demand trends for both organics and greenhouse-grown products,” Anderson said. “They have put an incredible amount of effort into perfecting the organic growing process, which differs greatly under glass from in the field. And with a blend of science and nature, South Alder has achieved a product line that is truly beyond compare.”

Anderson said that South Alder’s proprietary growing methods deliver products that are rich in flavor and are essentially “picture perfect.”

And, another significant benefit: the lycopene content in these organic Beefsteak tomatoes nearly triples that of regular hydroponic tomatoes. Nutrient content research is currently being performed on South Alder’s tomatoes-on-the-vine and O-sardinia variety. Lycopene is routinely linked to cancer prevention.

“There is a lot of buzz around lycopene right now, so the naturally high concentration of this nutrient found in O-tomatoes makes them even more appealing,” Anderson said.

On the heels of a very successful single-acre organic Beefsteak tomato trial in 2005, South Alder and Oppenheimer will market Beefsteak tomatoes, tomatoes-on-the-vine and their cocktail-sized counterpart, O-sardinia, as well as Seedless cucumbers and sweet Bell peppers grown on 20 acres now through November

South Alder is led by Dr. William Cheuk, company president, and Raymond Wong, vice president. Scientists first and entrepreneurs second, both have spent the last five years overseeing trials aimed at discovering the ideal nutrients, fertilizer, growing media and organic production practices suitable for the greenhouse environment.

“Growing organic in greenhouses is totally different from regular hydroponic and organic field operations,” said Cheuk. “The two keys elements are high quality organic fertilizer and soil media. We developed our own proprietary organic fertilizer and microbial and nutrient enhanced (MANE) soil media. Technologically speaking, we are synergizing our patent-pending waste treatment environmental technology into conventional horticultural production. We call this ‘Clean Environmental Organic technology (CEO™ technology).’ On the production side, we try to keep the essence of traditional farming – taste – and with our climatic and biological control technologies, we grow the crop in an clean, controlled and sustainable environment.”

Because of these growing practices, Wong said that O-tomato, O-sardinia, O-pepper and O-cucumber are in a class of their own.

“There are virtually no organic products on the market that can equal our quality and food safety standards,” he said. “We can guarantee our products have no direct application of organic waste materials, no cross contamination of genetically modified pollens from neighboring fields, and no ground water contamination.

In addition, we re-process waste, like our own plant debris and fruit, into organic compost. Therefore, the whole operation is environmentally friendly and sustainable.” South Alder took things one step further in its approach to the new cocktail tomato-on-the-vine, O-sardinia.

“Tomatoes grown in the Italian region of Sardinia are world famous for their taste,” Cheuk explained. “Using technology, we emulate similar climate and soil conditions in our greenhouse to produce tomatoes just as they are grown in Sardinia. Traditional taste is still what the customer wants. Our product is truly the best of both worlds: innovative technology and traditional taste.”

The international flavor of this product line is also reflected in the Japanese-style “midi” cucumbers. These seedless cucumbers have very dark, thin skin and measure about eight inches long – smaller than a standard English cucumber, but larger than the typical “mini” cucumber.

Rounding out the product line are red, yellow and orange Bell peppers.

O-tomato, O-cucumber, O-pepper and O-sardinia are available in a range of pack styles, including the 100 percent compostable Earthcycle Packaging which is made from palm fiber. Wong believes that the potential for organic greenhouse-grown produce remains largely untapped, and South Alder intends to convert more acreage to organics in the near future.

“The organic market is still in its infancy, representing only five percent of the total produce sector in North America,” he said. “Organic customers are very conscious of their health and expect the best, safe organic produce. With our proprietary (patent-pending) technologies for fertilizer and soil, we want to set a new benchmark to provide clean, safe, high quality organic vegetables.”

For more information please contact:
Karin Gardner, communications manager
Jill Dahlstrom, communications associate
PH: (206) 284-1705 | FX: (206) 284-0203