REDCLIFF, Alta. — That little Red Hat sticker on tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in western Canadian grocery stores means the food comes from growers in southern Alberta.
The vegetables are handled and shipped from the Red Hat Co-operative, which has 40 active members who collectively grow vegetables in 110 acres of greenhouse.
Red Hat will officially open its expanded facility Oct. 18 with free lunch and tours for the public. The 43,500 sq. foot expansion brings the facility to nearly 100,000 sq. feet, filled with vegetable handling, packaging and refrigeration equipment.
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“Our volume has doubled in the last 10 years,” says Red Hat general manager Lyle Aleman.
The facility ships 5.5 million cases of produce a year, including various types of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.
Aleman said prices for the vegetables are down this year, largely because of increased production in other parts of Canada, the United States and Mexico.
That has prompted growers and the co-op to explore new products that will hopefully prove as popular as the mini-cukes it introduced several years ago that gained quick customer acceptance.
Aleman said he hopes the operation can increase its volume of grape tomatoes next year and will soon introduce larger numbers of sweet long peppers to retailers.
He is also hopeful that more Alberta growers will invest in lighting technology that enables them to grow product year round, helping retain retail customers and reducing the need for imported product during the winter.
“Hopefully we can have our growers invest and be able to supply product year round for our consumers, that’s grown right here in Alberta,” said Aleman.
Red Hat runs seven days a week, employing 200 people in summer and 110 in winter. More details on the operation, along with photos, will appear in a coming issue of The Western Producer.
