Stubbins exhibited at the Royal Welsh Show for the first time this year making history as the first fresh produce company ever to exhibit in its main food hall. The show, held annually at Builth Wells, is the shop window for farming and rural life in Wales, attracting more than 200,000 visitors over a four-day period. The event also includes a food hall specifically for the promotion of Welsh food products.
Stephen Conn, Stubbins Commercial Manager explains, "Our specialist tomato nursery at Rhymney Valley near Cardiff is the largest glasshouse complex in Wales," said Stephen Conn, Stubbins commercial manager. "And we wanted to promote not only the quality of tomatoes we are growing locally in Wales, but also the range that is now available to consumers. The decision to exhibit at the show also follows on from winning one of the True Taste of Wales 2003-04 awards for our baby plum Santa. We also wanted to meet the public on a one to one basis and conduct some impromptu and relaxed market research".
Stubbins stand featured a range of specialist tomato types for sampling and purchase and a live bumblebee pollinating display. The tomatoes on the stand were mainly "on-the-vine" types: large round Elegance, medium plum Flavorino and new medium round 116 and medium orange plum Golden Wonder as well as baby plum Santa.
"You have to work really hard to get many of the public to try some of these new types as the classic round tomato remains their normal purchase," said Conn. "However, the response was always very positive."
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