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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)
Lots of Canberrans met Marilyn Lanyon at the recent Taste by the Lake '04. Her stall was ultra-smart, decorated with clear bags of Simply Green Tomatoes, for which the Gift Pack won bronze in the Aesthetic Section of the 2002 Australian Packaging Awards. Last week, at an afternoon cocktail party in the parliamentary gardens in Melbourne, Marilyn was awarded State Winner of the Rural Women's Award for her product. She says, "The bursary will allow me to travel overseas and conduct tastings in the Singapore and Hong Kong stores which are selling the Simply Tomatoes". "I will be in Canberra this week at a Corporate Governance Course which will help me guest speaking to encourage rural women to turn their ideas into reality."
In 1978 Marilyn and her husband Ian moved from their original property to join Ian's brother Murray and wife Betty in a partnership, Terralea Farms, north of Boort in Central Victoria. This was the start of their tomato growing for processing factories. In the Loddon area, Marilyn says, "The soil is a grey loam self-mulching clay. The water comes from the Murray Goulburn system delivered by gravitation from the Eildon Weir via the Waranga Basin into the Loddon system".
In 1979 an Italian friend told Marilyn How his mother used unripened green field tomatoes. Shince then she has been making the recipe for the enjoyment of her five children and friends. She kept thinking, "I am sure it is not out there!". She was among 10 horticultural women who, in 2001, went on a South_East Asian marketing trip looking for potential markets for their :value add" ideas. She says, "Our antipasto product app\eared to be unique so we built a commercial kitchen on our property and began manufacturing the Simply Green Tomatoes in 2002".
With the assistance of the Australian Government and through the New Exporter Program, their product has been presented in 15 countries. The only country with a similare product is the Italian mainland and Sicily. Marilyn says, "We boast that our product is owned, grown and manufactured from the tomato seed to the end product by the Lanyon family under the safe guidelines of the Australian Government. It has a stable shelf life of 12 months and does not require refrigeration even after opening, if the tomatoes are kept immersed in the original oil. The retail packs are in cryovac bags which assists easy delivery through Australia Post and shipping with 'dry' goods. In The Canberra Times' readership district, Simply Green Tomatoes are available from Poachers Pantry in Hall, Braidwood Fine Foods and Sunshine Fruits at Mollymook.
To serve: Simply Green Tomatoes can be tossed trough a green garden salad, added to pasta dishes, baked with baby vegetables, potato or sweet potato, as pizza or foccacia toppings or served with crackers. After the tomatoes are used, the remaining olive oil, which is flavoured with herbs and garlic, can be used as for frying or as a base for salad dressing. Marilyn says a simple recipe idea for a dip is a cup of light cream cheese blended with a large tablespoon of the drained green tomatoes - chop the tomatoes if a blender is unavailable. The bit of the tomatoes makes a nice combination with cheese
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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