NEW PEPPER VARIETIES FIRST IN NORTH AMERICA

From the National Research Council-Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP)

Since it harvested its first crop of sweet bell peppers in 1987, Katatheon Farms, Inc., has become a top producer in the North American greenhouse pepper industry, a status it has achieved by pioneering innovative growing technologies. The family-run operation grows 36,000 square metres of greenhouse peppers in Langley, B.C. A sister company, Glenwood Valley Farms, Ltd., has achieved success of its own, becoming a leader in the North American cucumber industry.

Katatheon partnered with the National Research Council’s (NRC) Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) in October 2003 to diversify its product line. The company wanted to develop growing protocols for three new varieties of peppers that are not commercially produced in any other Canadian greenhouse operation. Katatheon had negotiated the support of B.C. Hot House Foods, Inc., to market the new pepper varieties, but that support was based on minimum production of 4,000 square metres. B.C. Hot House currently distributes Katatheon’s products across Canada and throughout the U.S.

“When you devote that kind of area to a test project you lose significant production – and revenue – from your normal crop,” notes Tom Reinhart, Katatheon’s president and co-owner. “The beauty of NRC-IRAP is that the partnership allows you to take a bigger risk and do a pilot project properly and professionally.”

The company’s greenhouse products are grown through state-of-the-art hydroponic technologies. One key success factor in the greenhouse industry is maximizing the return per square metre, either through higher production volume or a specialty (higher-priced) product. With the NRC-IRAP project, Katatheon was striving to achieve both. Profit margins from the new pepper varieties were potentially higher than for sweet bell peppers. But growing protocols would have to produce a crop that was consistently high quality and high yield for commercial success.

The three test products were a red and yellow Ramiro-style or sweet tooth pepper, a chilli pepper and a mini bell. All proved promising enough for Katatheon to embark on a second year, and Reinhart considers the NRC-IRAP project a success. “We were very pleased with the sweetness, shape and yield of the red sweet tooth,” says Reinhart. “We’re still searching for answers for the yellow.” Yield on the chilli wasn’t high enough in the first year, and growing protocols for the mini bell needed to be refined to bring in a smaller mature product.

Overall, Reinhart is optimistic that all three varieties will realize commercial potential in their second year. The company has expanded production of the sweet tooth by 40 percent and mini bell production has jumped from 250 square metres to 2,500. “Now we’ve got the momentum to go it on our own,” Reinhart says.

He credits the company’s NRC-IRAP Industrial Technology Advisor Christia Roberts with providing valuable support throughout the project. “She is very knowledgeable,” he notes. Roberts has worked with the company for several years, conducting technical assessments and providing business and technical advice.

The NRC-IRAP project was the first systematic large-scale crop investigation that Katatheon had undertaken and Reinhart quickly recognized that it had raised the level of the company’s professionalism. In fact, Katatheon found the project so valuable that it has already embarked on another NRC-IRAP initiative, this time through its sister company. “Without NRC-IRAP, we would not have three new pepper varieties that could be awesome for the future,” Reinhart says. “The program helped to minimize the risk.”

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