Last month the Premier’s Awards for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence were given out to recognize and applaud several Ontario innovations that improve upon existing products, create jobs and drive economic growth. The award winners were announced and celebrated at the annual Premier’s Summit on Agri-Food.
Niagara’s Foreign Affair Winery and Durham’s Geissberger Farmhouse Cider Inc. are among the Province’s impressive and innovative Award Recipients.
The Foreign Affair Winery, a 40-acre vineyard in the Niagara Region, was this year’s Minister’s Award Winner. With passion and knowledge deriving from another part of the world, Len and Marisa Crispino translated a unique Italian process (appassimento) to Ontario wines and with it have brought value, innovation and inspiration. The couple also defeated the issue of mold by re-engineering air flow in the vineyard and production process. Their award winning winery now produces14 exceptional different wines. It was after dedicated experimentation and perseverance in the not-so Italian conditions of Ontario that the Crispino’s triumphantly applied appassimento techniques to local grapes. Appassimento is a northern Italian speciality, where the grapes are dried before they are transformed into wine. The Crispino’s innovation has allowed us to experience this rich Italian specialty here at home.
Gord and Garry Geissberger of Geissberger Farmhouse Cider received a Leaders in Innovation Award with their mobile apple cider mill. The first of its kind in Ontario, this cider press travels to the apples, bringing its technology and pressing equipment with it – the 8′ x 20′ trailer carries an apple washer, shredder, press, pasteurizer and packaging system. The trailer can process a whopping 500 litres of cider in an hour, while saving orchards shipping costs. Their bag-in-box packaging also gives the cider a long shelf life without preservatives or refrigeration. This impressive and unique system allows for reduced costs for producers, and fresher, tastier cider for customers. Supporting local food and the economy as well, the cider is 100% made from locally grown apples in the Durham Region.
Evidently, innovations like these certainly improve upon available products in our province while supporting our economy in a number of ways. It is minds like the Crispano’s and Geissberger’s that help to keep our province innovative, prosperous, and continually growing. Congratulations!