Specialty produce is a natural at Westmoreland Farms ‘TopLine’
Specialty produce is a natural at Westmoreland Farms ‘TopLine’
When people think Westmoreland Farms’ “TopLine,” they also think specialties. The company, headquartered in Leamington, ON, grows what Jimmy Coppola, director of marketing, refers to as “all the specialties under the rainbow.”
The company’s wide range of greenhouse produce includes sweet grape, cherry and cocktail tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, mini seedless and cocktail cucumbers, mini sweet and long sweet peppers and hot peppers, baby eggplant and more.
Westmoreland Farms’ ‘TopLine’ mix of high-quality greenhouse specialty produce.“Those looking for specialties need look no further than ‘TopLine,’ ” said Coppola. “We also grow typical commodities such as beefsteak and cluster tomatoes, seedless cucumbers, bell peppers and more.”
Westmoreland Farms’ greenhouses are located in Ontario, and the company has growing partners in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and elswhere. It distributes its popular “TopLine” brand of vegetables to small and large retail chains, and it services foodservice operations, an area in which it is currently concentrating on growing.
This past winter, the company opened a warehouse and distribution facility in McAllen, TX, which is helping it to expand its reach.
“We also plan to increase our organic offerings to include cluster tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, bell peppers and seedless cucumbers in the coming future,” said Coppola. “At the same time we continue to work toward developing a plan to also offer our specialty line items in organic options.”
Discussions are currently under way internally at Westmoreland Farms “TopLine” to expand its operations even further in the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
Coppola explained that the company has revamped the majority of its packaging to better fit in with its Green Plan, which is beneficial to the environment.
“From top-seal packaging and increased usage of paper trays and flow-wrapped packages, we are looking to do all we can for the environment,” he said. “And we continue to work toward developing attractive and sustainable packages that will look great on store shelves and in consumers’ refrigerators.”
