Essex County tomato processor swings deal to sell Ontario-grown tomatoes in Nigeria

by MATT MCINTOSH

Some Essex County tomato growers that lost their contracts to produce tomatoes for the Leamington Heinz plant might have a newfound buyer in Thomas Canning Ltd., a Maidstone-based tomato processor that recently signed a $25 million per year trade deal to sell Ontario tomatoes in Nigeria.

According to an official press release from Thomas Canning, the deal, announced on April 22, allows the company to sell its Utopia brand tomatoes in Nigeria at the rate of 2.2 million cases per year.

Tracey Coleman, food safety and quality control supervisor for Thomas Canning, says the company’s headway into the Nigerian market means it will require more, and larger growers next year.

“We have seven growers that we use consistently,” she says. “Some of those growers will increase their acreage for us next year, but we will be adding some growers too.”

Coleman says she does not know exactly how many growers Thomas Canning plans to add. Bill Thomas, CEO of the company’s Utopia brand, could not be reached for comment.

Of the 42 growers that used to produce tomatoes for the H.J. Heinz Company of Canada before its closure of its Leamington processing facility, Tom Keller, a director on the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers Board, says only 10 continue to have contracts with Highbury Canco Corporation, the company that acquired the facility earlier this year.

“If Thomas Canning can really develop the Nigeria market, that will be good for growers,” he says, although he notes the number of farmers currently growing for that company “is small.”

Coleman says Thomas Canning exported the first shipment to Nigeria in March; the Festrut Group International Ltd., Thomas Canning’s Nigerian partner in the trade deal, will launch the Ontario-made product in May. BF