DRESDEN, Ont. – Initial success in introducing a tropical crop to Ontario greenhouses has encouraged an entrepreneur to expand his business.
George Scott of SRI Inc. at Wainfleet, Ont., said the Canadian market is already large enough for 42 acres of fresh market bitter melon, and he’s moving ahead with plans to set up a dehydration facility so the crop can be marketed in powdered form as a nutraceutical.
“This is the Buckley’s of vegetables,” Scott said, referring to the fruit’s bitter taste. “It is a super food. If it was better known in Canada, it would have a category of its own on the government food list.”
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According to SRI researchers Jeffery Huber and Ahmed Bilal, there are more than 1,500 bitter melon cultivars, including Indian, Chinese and Japanese types. More bitter melons are consumed internationally than tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers combined.
The melons are low in calories but rich in nutrients. They contain twice the calcium and more iron than spinach, twice as much beta-carotene as broccoli and twice as much potassium as bananas. Bitter melon has been used to provide relief from Type 2 diabetes symptoms and treat bacterial and viral infections, menstrual problems, hyperlipidemia and certain types of cancer.
It’s fetching a good price in Toronto stores, but Scott doesn’t want to flood the market. Last year, he contracted eight acres and plans to bring on growers in a methodical manner.
“What SRI is saying is, if you market bitter melon through us, we will take it to the market and we’ll maintain higher prices,” Scott said.
He said his company has developed the production expertise and has identified the right seed source for Canadian growing conditions.
“There are a number of different issues to be overcome. It’s not like growing a regular cucumber,” he said. “Most of the people who have tried to grow the crop here in Canada have failed.”
Greenhouse growers interested in the crop can contact him but shouldn’t expect to produce high volumes right away. Initially, Scott said he might supply select growers with enough seed for three or four rows and boost production the following year.
Scott credits Youming Zhao of the Canada-China Agriculture and Food Exchange Centre in Hamilton, Ont., which was instrumental in bringing Canadian-grown bitter melon to the market quickly.
“Youming Zhao is a very special guy. He saved us about three years of research and development costs here in Canada by introducing us to our counterparts in China.”
Research at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ont., also supported the effort.
Scott hopes bitter melon production will give the greenhouse industry in Ontario’s Niagara region a boost. He said the strong Canadian dollar and rising energy costs have cut deeply into the industry’s profit margins.
