It’s not every day you get to write a press release saying your products are going to space.
Pure Hothouse peppers bound for the ISS
But that day came for Leamington, Ont.-based greenhouse grower Pure Hothouse Foods, which had received a call from NASA requesting a crate of bell peppers for the crew members of the International Space Station (ISS).
The bell peppers were part of a shipment of more than 5,000 pounds of space station supplies delivered on the SpaceX cargo flight, which took off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Sept. 21.
“It was definitely an out-of-the-ordinary call,” said Jamie Moracci, president of Pure Hothouse Foods, whose products are sold under the Pure Flavor brand. “It’s obviously different than anything we usually do. And it’s something we’re very proud of.”
The company sent out a short press release simply because they were excited, said Moracci. But it was also an opportunity to highlight the nutritional benefits of greenhouse produce and reinforce the company’s image of promoting a healthy lifestyle.
“We try to promote healthy eating through all our [marketing] activities,” said Sarah Pau, marketing assistant at Pure Hothouse Foods. “[NASA] has limited capacity to bring whatever they need out there, so we thought it was really important to let everyone know that bell peppers are such a nutritional product that astronauts are requesting them.”
The story was picked up by trade and mainstream publications including the Windsor Star, Regina Leader-Post, Metro News and The Produce News. The press release and media coverage noted that astronauts mainly subsist on pre-packaged meals.
“For the fruit and vegetable industry, every [message about] healthy eating that we can get out is a positive direction and where we want to go [as a brand],” said Moracci.
