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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
"Success has continued with her antipasto product winning two national awards".
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
A central Victorian mother of five who turned a much-loved green tomatoes recipe into a burgeoning business has been named Victoria's Rural Woman of the Year. Marilyn Lanyon of Boort, received her award at a ceremony in Melbourne last week. She plans to use the $15,000 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation prize to visit South-East Asia to further develop the market for her product, Simply Green tomatoes. The antipasto product has already won fans across the world, attracting interest from 24 countries, and is stocked in delicatessens and cafes in every Australian state and territory.
"When I get back I'd like to tell other women in rural Victoria how it all came about and encourage them to look for ways they can turn their own ideas into a profitable business," Marilyn says. She is also keen to attend formal training courses to boost her business knowledge and wants to further her research into turning a by-product of her tomato manufacturing process into a saleable product.
The Simply Green Tomatoes story began 25 years ago when Marilyn and her husband Ian began growing processing tomatoes. Over the years, Marilyn developed numerous tomato recipes, which she collected in a book and started selling at markets and from home. But it soon became obvious people were more interested in buying the samples she took along than in buying the book. And the green tomatoes - suggested in 1978 by a friend, Pasquale Taverna, whose mother made something similar in Italy - were a favourite. Marilyn began researching the manufacture of her savoury-style tomatoes in 2000, but it was not until she took part in a Horticulture Australia-sponsored trip to South-East Asia in May, 2001, that she knew she was onto a winner.
Four months later, the Lanyons set up a commercial kitchen on their farm, and things began in earnest. Each summer the tomatoes are hand picked for size and colour, triple washed, sliced and soaked in a salt and vinegar brine for two days. They are then drained and poured into a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, garlic and oregano, in 100kg wheelie bins which are stored underground in a shipping container. The finished product is vacuum packed in 100g, 250g and 700g packs, or 5kg buckets for the food-service industry. "Everything is done by hand, which is part of our selling point," Marilyn says. The kitchen has become a tourist attraction, with visitors - including coaches, school and TAFE groups - stopping in to see how Simply Green Tomatoes are made. Marilyn attends up to four farmers' markets a month. She also speaks at dinners and meetings.
Simply Green tomatoes has won several awards for Marilyn, including Loddon Shire Best New Business 2002, Victorian Farmers Federation Services to Agriculture 2002 and a bronzes medal in the Australian Packaging Award. She was also a finalist in the Hugh McKay Innovators Award. Marilyn says it has been an exciting time and she has been blessed to find good staff and receive great support from the Federal and Victorian governments.
The Lanyons grew 81ha of processing tomatoes this season - Marilyn's venture accounted for about 2.5 tonnes of that. Australian Processing Tomato Research Council industry development manager, Liz Mann, says the award is recognition of Marilyn's efforts and will help raise the profile of one of horticulture's smallest sectors. There are only 32 growers left in the (processing tomato) industry but we have some of the most innovative and eager growers in horticulture," Liz says. "Not only are the growers supplying the four major companies but they are also looking for ways to diversify and value-add on their own farms." Runner-up in the RIRDC awards was third-generation Cobram orchardist Beverley Fisher, who is trying to revive the local citrus juice industry with new products, including blood orange and tangelo juices.
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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