News Room - News Releases
Top Tomatoes in the Bay State Named for 2001!

For immediate release Aug. 28, 2001

Contact: Diane Baedeker Petit

617-626-1752 Diane.Baedeker@state.ma.us

DOVER, Mass. -- Tomatoes from farms across Massachusetts competed for top honors in the 17th Annual Massachusetts Tomato Contest held Friday, August 24th at Elm Bank Reservation, Dover. The contest was held in conjunction with the 6^th Annual Massachusetts Marketplace Festival, a two-day outdoor exhibition of new, unusual and traditional locally-produced food and horticultural products.

More than 60 tomato entries competed for first, second, or third place tomato awards in the slicing, cherry and/or heirloom categories. Trophies are awarded to the top three winners in each category and certificates are given to the top ten winners in each category.

For the first time ever, a yellow tomato placed second in the slicing category. This year’s contest also saw the most entries in the heirloom category -- older, unusual varieties that are no longer widely grown by commercial growers. Heirloom varieties are gaining in popularity again, and include orange, rose, black and striped tomatoes.

A panel of judges, including food media, chefs and produce specialists, evaluated the entries from commercial growers on shape, color and flavor, with more value given to flavor. On Friday, food retailers, state legislators, dignitaries and the media got a sneak peek at the exhibits and a taste of things to come at a preview reception featuring Bay State specialties prepared by local chefs.

The Massachusetts Marketplace continued on Saturday as a public festival. Massachusetts is the largest tomato producing state in New England, growing some 56 million pounds of tomatoes annually with a farm-gate value of $5.6 million. More than 500 acres are dedicated to tomato production in the Bay State which ranks 18th in tomato production nationwide.

The annual Massachusetts Tomato Contest is sponsored by the New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Association, the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers’ Markets, the Massachusetts Association of Roadside Stands and the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture. The Massachusetts Marketplace is presented by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the state agriculture department.

The top winners for 2001 were:

Massachusetts Tomato Contest Winners, 2001
SLICING CATEGORY
Entry	Farm Name	Town	Variety	Place
S-12	Gove Farm	Leominster	Merced	1
S-19	Ward's Berry Farm	Sharon	Lemon Boy	2
S-01	Blue Heron Farms	Franklin	Trust	3
S-02	Verrill Farm	Concord	Big Beef	4
S-04	Arena Farm	Concord	Supersonic	5
S-08	Simple Gifts Farm	Belchertown	Big Beef	6
S-09	Warren Farm	N. Brookfield	4th of July	7
S-03	Verrill Farm	Concord	Celebrity	8
S-18	Ward's Berry Farm	Sharon	Sunbeam	9
S-06	Red Fire Farm	Granby	Buffalo	10
CHERRY CATEGORY
Entry	Farm Name	Town	Variety	Place
C-07	Red Fire Farm	Granby	Sun Gold	1
C-08	Red Fire Farm	Granby	Super Sweet 100	2
C-10	Warren Farm	N. Brookfield	Sweet 100	2
C-16	Ward's Berry Farm	Sharon	Sun Cherry	3
C-01	Verrill Farm	Concord	Matts Wild Cherry	4
C-09	Simple Gifts Farm	Belchertown	Sun Gold	5
C-17	Ward's Berry Farm	Sharon	Sweet Olive	6
C-03	Clark Farm	Danvers	Sun Gold	7
C-06	Arena Farm	Concord	Large Red Cherry	8
C-04	Clark Farm	Danvers	Grape	9
C-02	Verrill Farm	Concord	Super Sweet	10
HEIRLOOM CATEGORY
Entry	Farm Name	Town	Variety	Place
H-19	Ward's Berry Farm	Sharon	Black Krim	1
H-11	Warren Farm	N. Brookfield	Prince Borghese	2
H-21	Ward's Berry Farm	Sharon	Jubilee	3
H-15	Wilson	Lexington	Cherokee Purple	3
H-06	Red Fire Farm	Granby	Brandywine	4
H-05	Red Fire Farm	Granby	Aunt Ruby	5
H-07	Red Fire Farm	Granby	Rose	6
H-04	Arena Farm	Concord	Eva's Purple Dall	7
H-14	Wilson	Lexington	Brandywine	8
H-08	Simple Gifts Farm	Belchertown	Green Zebra	9
HEAVIEST
Entry	Farm Name	Town	Variety	Weight (pounds)	Place
W-04	Gove Farm	Leominster	Merced	2.63	1
W-01	Arena Farm	Concord	Beefmaster	2.38

SLICING CATEGORY