"US: "Mini pepper category is now a core commodity"

As summer provides greenhouse bell peppers with additional light and warmth, growers are maintaining that demand is outpacing supply. Despite the fact that greenhouse bell pepper volume has grown over the years, demand has grown even more, leaving plenty of room for more production.

"The growing conditions for greenhouse produce in the summertime is perfect for us as it allows us to provide the plants with the heat units and sunlight they require to grow efficiently without having to artificially heat or light our facilities," said Graham Hamilton of Double Diamond Farms based in Ontario. "In today’s greenhouse grown produce market we’re seeing a greater demand for bell peppers than what the industry supply is able to keep up with. This provides us with a unique opportunity to capture the market where other growers might not be able to supply."

Another interesting point that Hamilton revealed about greenhouse bell peppers is how each color ranks in popularity. "The greatest demand in greenhouse grown bell peppers is for yellow peppers," he shared. "Next in line for demand is orange, then red, then green."

Producers have noted that mini sweet peppers have experienced significant growth since they became a commercial category on their own. They are now considered a main line product and as a result, Double Diamond Farms created their own label Diamond Sweets. The Diamond Sweets are available year round and are offered in a number of weight and pack configurations.

"We have seen such extreme growth in the mini pepper category within the last three years that mini peppers have transitioned from one of our specialty items to one of our core commodities," Hamilton explained. "We saw that the market was trending towards mini peppers due to their flavor and versatility, so we wanted to create a product that highlighted these traits right in the name, and I think we accomplished that in the Diamond Sweets."

Double Diamond introduced a new line focused on kids that was launched earlier this year. Using the smaller sized varieties of greenhouse produce, including grape tomatoes, cocktail cucumbers, and also mini peppers, the company designed branding and packaging to make it attractive for kids to enjoy these mini vegetables. 

"Something interesting that we recently decided to do with our mini peppers was launch a separate product to join our Kid’s Line of bite-sized veggies," Hamilton shared. "This new product, which we’ve called our Panda Peppers, features a cute and cuddly Panda Bear, and accompanies the Gecko in our Gecko Grapes grape tomatoes, as well as the Crocodile in our Croco Cukes cocktail cucumbers. We wanted to select produce that was perfect for snacking on-the-go, and also intrigues those little imaginations. Selecting characters that would be recognizable and playful to kids made perfect sense, and hopefully turns eating in an engaging experience.”

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Graham Hamilton