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MEDIA REVIEWS...
taste of VICTORIA Magazine
November 2006
"Simply Tomatoes has won the 2006 Premier’s
Food Victoria Award for Innovation by using a
combination of canny business development
and outstanding packaging design for its
Simply Green Tomatoes antipasto.."
Premier of Victoria
August 2006
"I would like to congratulate Simply Tomatoes for winning the 2006 Premier's Food Victoria Award for Innovation."
MyBusiness Magazine
July 2006
"Just five years ago Marilyn Lanyon’s farm was facing a disastrous future, but with some inspired lateral thinking, she was able to convert a problem into an opportunity”
EPICURE- The Age
July 18th 2006
"Flavoursome and nutritious, Simply Tomatoes business has grown from being a local success to being sold in over 20 countries.”
ABC RURAL COUNTRY HOUR Radio Program
June 2006
"A humble tomato producer from Boort in central Victoria has value-added her tomatoes into a antipasto product and is selling it to 22 countries around the world.”
BUSH TELEGRAPH Radio Interview
June 2006
"Have you ever had a fantastic idea but weren't quite sure how to market it?"
TASTE OF VICTORIA Magazine
Issue 34 – Summer 2005 / 2006
"I had in mind something noticeably different from a jar, I wanted something that would really stand out on a shelf.”
ONE LOCAL PRODUCT, TWO NATIONAL AWARDS
by Hayley Moriellon - The Loddon Times, November 16, 2005
It’s been an exciting few years for Simply Green Tomatoes owner, Marilyn Lanyon and her success has continued with her antipasto product winning two national awards. Mrs Lanyon and her husband, Ian, are Boort tomato farmers who began producing the antipasto product as a value-adding venture to their farm. Recently, Simply Green Tomatoes has been recognised for both its antipasto and its packaging. On November 7, Mrs Lanyon attended the inaugural Vogue Entertaining and Travel Australian Produce Awards in Sydney. Surprisingly to Mrs Lanyon, she walked away with an award. Simply Green Tomatoes was the joint winner of the Best New Produce Award with a saffron farmer in Tasmania. There were 34 products at the Vogue Entertaining and Travel Australian Produce Awards with each of these products presented for guests to taste. Mrs Lanyon said her green tomato slices were crumbed and panfried in butter by Blair of Shimmer Catering, a gold class caterer. She said it was lovely to see her product used in a new way.
Mrs Lanyon said it was also great to see producers recognized for their work by awards such as the Vogue Entertaining and Travel Australian Produce Awards. “It’s going back to what we are doing on the land,” she said. Mrs Lanyon said being recognised for her product after being recognised for the product’s packaging in October, was really good. Simply Green Tomatoes won gold in the Export Award at the 2005 Australian Packaging Awards held on October 8.
Mrs Lanyon was so sure she would not win the award that she hadn’t even purchased tickets for the awards night, which she later attended at the Grand Hyatt Ballroom in Melbourne. She said it was mostly large companies that won awards on the night, which made her win even more special. “It’s pretty good to be up there with them all,” she said. What makes the export packaging of Simply Green Tomatoes so special is that it has 11 languages stating the ingredients, production details, serving suggestions, storage details and a recipe. The packaging was also made so that it could be easily dispatched by post, air or ship, while also being stylish and elegant. The idea to put the different languages on the packaging came after Mrs Lanyon won the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation’s
2004 Rural Women’s Award for Victoria. With the bursary from the award, Mrs Lanyon was able to travel overseas with her export advisor. While in Europe, Mrs Lanyon met with a company in the Netherlands that wanted to import her product. She said the company requested the different languages because it had shops in 14 countries across Europe.
While Simply Green Tomatoes only began in 2002, Mr and Mrs Lanyon have been growing tomatoes for processing factories since 1978. She said Simply Green Tomatoes was about value adding. “It’s a compliment to our existing tomato farm,” she said. Mrs Lanyon began making the green tomato antipasto after her Italian friend, Pasquali Taverna gave her the recipe. She said it took her around five seasons before Mr Taverna said it was “just like mum used to make.” Mrs Lanyon did her first trial of the Simply Green Tomatoes antipasto on December 31, 2001 and began manufacturing in 2002. Mrs Lanyon said “from the tomato seed to the end product,” everything is done by Simply Green Tomatoes, including marketing and distribution. “We’re a little company doing the lot,” she said.
With only a short window to produce the antipasto, green tomatoes are handpicked between Christmas and March. The tomatoes then take three days to be processed into the antipasto. “It’s very labour intensive,” Mrs Lanyon said. And with the great success of her business, Mrs Lanyon is now helping others to find that same success. Simply Green tomatoes is now a case study for the Australian Trade Commission, known as Austrade. Austrade assists Australian companies to succeed overseas by helping them to select, enter and develop international markets.
Mrs Lanyon said if people were willing to put in the hard work, there were people, such as Government support, to help new companies succeed in business. She said running Simply Green Tomatoes had been a quick learning curve for her and she wanted to help other people succeed in their ventures. “I’m only too happy to help others,” she said.
FOOD FRENZY
The NewsLink’s Travel Magazine,
Sept / Oct 2005
" A new range of gourmet food products have landed at NewsLink’s Discover stores ".
SIMPLY GREEN TOMATOES
by Adeline Teoh - Dynamic Small Business, August 2005
" Selling Simply Green Tomatoes to Italians is like selling ice to Eskimos ".
BOORT FEEDS ROYAL WEDDING
by Shaun Makepeace - The Advertiser, May 14, 2004
"Simply Green Tomatoes on Menu in Denmark"
MARILYN LANYON TOMATO GROWER, BOORT, VICTORIA
by Susan Duncan - Australian Women's Weekly May 2004
"Marilyn Lanyon, is building markets here and overseas for homegrown pickled green tomatoes".
GREEN REDS ADD FLAVOUR
by Margaret Johnson - The West Australian FRESH, February 12, 2004
"A NEW and delicious product has become available on the local market, called Simply Green Tomatoes".
PROCESSING TOMATO INDUSTRY SUCCESS STORIES
by Liz Mann - Tomato Topics, March 2004, Volume 13, No 1
"Congratulations must go to both Geraldine and Marilyn for helping raise the profile of the Australian Processing Tomato Industry".
GREEN DREAM FINALLY ON THE GRAPEVINE
by Susan Parsons - The Canberra Times, March 24, 2004 (Food and Wine)
"When an Italian friend hinted at the benefits of cooking with unripened field tomatoes, Marilyn Lanyon took notice. The clever marketing project has won her a Rural Women's Award".
WOMEN AWARDED
by Melinda Browning - The Advertiser, March 15, 2004
"Marilyn Lanyon runs a growing business in antipasto green tomatoes in Boort, and was recognized as the statewide winner of the rural women's award."
SIMPLY A WINNING PROJECT
by Ken Jenkins - The Loddon Times, March 17, 2004-04
"The green tomatoes developed into an antipasto type product are proving a tasty treat not only nationally but are also being exported overseas."
Tomato idea makes Marilyn the …….QUEEN OF GREEN
by Sandra Godwin - The Weekly Times, March 17, 2004 CountryLIVING
"The World is relishing a taste of Italy being spread from Boort."
SIMPLY GREEN TOMATO MAKING ITS WAY FROM AUSTRALIA TO ASIA
Retail Asia - December 2002 The Retail Business Magazine
"The green tomatoes are carefully hand-selected and, within the hour, begin their three-day process."
GREEN LIGHT
by Miranda Sharp - The Age, October 1, 2002
"Check out the purity of the ingredients list : tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, oregano, vinegar and salt."
WATCH THIS GREEN SPACE
by Donna Coutts - Hearald Sun, September 3, 2002
"It's an oft-told tale in Australian agriculture : through adversity to diversity."
LAND OF PLENTY - Epicure Escape
by Melinda Houston - The Age, August 13, 2002
"These little flavour bombs are like a hybrid between a really good olive and your favourite relish."
FAMILY TURNS ANGER INTO EXPORTS
by Katie Fisher - The Weekly Times, June 5, 2002
"Marilyn said the biggest challenge was the expense of producing the product because it is very labour intensive."
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