In This Issue
Glee 2015 was a great success for retailers
Game On Glovie at the shock Japan rugby result
Sunday trading proposals will boost the rural economy and benefit consumers, says HTA
New active ingredient for Provado Ultimate Bug Killer
Making the most of all the new product opportunities
Thrillers and spillers for October plant sales
Glee-ful time for Greenfingers
Wyevale Nurseries becomes a NATO ally
All 'pouffed' up after winning three new product awards
New look Town & Country goes down a storm
Grower left red faced after eating £1,000 tomato
HTA Futures is the venue for The Greatest Garden Centre Team Awards 2015
Green Heart of Glee is a winner with monthly plant merchandising ideas
Uuni pizza oven is the Retailers Choice at Glee 2015
Catch up with all the Glee Daily News
Plantarea Manager - South West
Garden Centre Sales Agents Wanted
Gifts and Homeware Team Leader
Assistant Manager - West Midlands
Commercial Sales Estimator
Contracts Manager
Sundries Assistant - Hampshire
Plant Area Supervisor - Hampshire
Back to the future for orchid feeders
Onions set the pace for veg sales
Autumn growing gets growing
Save the Date: HTA Marketing Forum 2015 – Tuesday 10 November
APL win Gold at Harrogate Autumn Flower Show
Glee New Product Awards 2015 results
Green Digit win the second GIMA Innovator’s Seed Corn Fund
Glee Buyers Power List 2015 winners
Adam Wigglesworth becomes HTA President at Glee
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Green Pastures' new restaurant crowned 'Best in Norfolk'
Competition hots up at biggest ever lunch! show
Situations Vacant
Plantarea Manager - South West
Shaw Trust Palmer Gardens
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Garden Centre Sales Agents Wanted
Bonnington Plastics Ltd
Read more»
Gifts and Homeware Team Leader
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Assistant Manager - West Midlands
 
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Commercial Sales Estimator
Competitive salary
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Contracts Manager
£30,000 dependent on experience
Read more»
Sundries Assistant - Hampshire
£18k - £20k per annum
Read more»
Plant Area Supervisor - Hampshire
£18k - £20k per annum
Read more»
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Contact us with your news.  Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700

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Grower left red faced after eating £1,000 tomato


Having announced a £1,000 prize for the heaviest Gigantomo Tomato brought to The Harrogate Autumn Show, Van Meuwen  PR officer Kris Collins quietly went about raising his own plants aiming to achieve a whopper.

The initial marketing campaign featured a true photograph of a giant fruit grown in the US, some 30cm in diameter. Despite thinning the fruits to encourage giant produce and using a secret homemade fertiliser, Kris’s Gigantomos just didn’t live up to the poster campaign. Assessing the weights amongst his final harvest, he didn’t think he stood a chance against seasoned giant veg growers.  “Faced with two large tomatoes I decided to make a bolognese with one and a fresh tomato salad with the other rather than pit them against the giant veg growing fraternity.” Said Kris.

His largest fruit weighed in at 4lb3oz (1.95kg), and while he said it made the perfect base for a bolognese sauce, you can image his shock come Harrogate weigh in day to find the winning fruit came in at just 3lb8oz (1.75kg).

“When we heard the weight of the winning fruit, I apparently went a little pale in the face as it dawned on me that I had treated my family to the most expensive pasta dish on the planet! If I had kept the fruit for exhibition I could have treated them to a nice holiday instead of a simple home cooked meal. I was expecting to see tomatoes the size of footballs not baseballs!”

Van Meuwen General Manager, Chris Wright, said he was happy to award the £1,000 prize money to Joe Atherton of Mansfield Woodhouse, Notts, as weather conditions had not been ideal for tomato growers this season. To have a fully ripe tomato, let alone a giant, was an impressive result. He said: “Sadly weather conditions have prevented growers from meeting the true potential of this fantastic giant tomato, but if this is what can be produced in a cool season, imagine what can be done in a hot summer. Gigantomo truly has the potential to create a world record breaker and we hope to see growers trying again next year in order to bring the world record for the heaviest tomato to UK shores.”

Chris also says that what Gigantomo lacks in appearance is made up for in flavour:  “Most other large varieties lack taste and texture.  Gigantomo might not always make the prettiest tomatoes, but independent taste tests prove it holds its flavour whatever the size or shape of the fruit. It also has a high flesh content with little juice or seeds, making it perfect for a wide variety of uses – you can feed a whole family with just one tomato!”

As for the other Kris, he says this isn’t the end of his giant veg growing venture: “I’ll be back next year, a little wiser and a little more eager to take home a prize. I won’t be eating bolognese for a while though - it will just leave a bad taste in my mouth!”

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