A growing operation in Blissfield, Mich., has built a presence on the Internet selling their tomatoes and apples online.
Roland Iott, known as Cork, and his wife Marilyn, have been growing specialty crops in the area since the l950s, along with their sons Kevin and Kerry (Butch). A sister, Katrina, is also involved, as well as a younger brother and sister, Kory and Kim.
Cork and Marilyn turned to the Internet about three years ago utilizing Marilyn’s merchandising expertise. Like most growers of specialty crops they sought a niche that would highlight a specific product.
Shipments of apples and tomatoes are sent in three-to-five pound boxes. According to Kevin Iott, these are the only commodities produced in their operation that have doubled in sales in the three years they have been on the Internet.
Part of the text from the web site reads, “Cork’s Gourmetos and Exotic Apples are hand-picked and hand-packed. You can’t find better tasting fruits and vegetables anywhere else. They are full of fiber and loaded with lycopene.” The Web site reports that new research confirms that apples are one of nature’s most effective health foods, with no cholesterol, no fat, no sodium, and high in vitamin C.
One of their sales messages on the Web site reads, “Cork says the best way to judge the overall quality of any tomato is by the aroma. The heady tomato scent is your assurance of solid, flavorful meat and pure delicious pulp.”
The site includes a bit of family history plus a picture of Cork standing in a staked tomato field. Although the Iott name comes from Ayotte in the original French and some ancestors may have migrated from French Canada, there is a long time farming tradition in the Iott background.
Applewood Orchards next door with 90 acres of apples, supplies apples for the fresh pack operation that makes up the other half of the Internet operation. This is handled by Marilyn and Cork, who spend about half the year in the Fort Myers, Fla. area supervising tomato contracting for the time period when there is no supply from Ohio.
The Iotts also produce 350 acres of cabbage, 240 acres of processing tomatoes and the additional 15-20 acres of staked tomatoes from which the cyberspace orders are filled, “which have to be as near perfect as possible.”
When asked about the Iott Ranch and Orchard designation stitched onto his company T-shirt, Kevin replied they had always wanted a ranch, and decided to incorporate one into the logo. They also incorporated their entire operation in 1990, as their entire family became involved in the operation that now totals 1,800 acres.
Besides apples and tomatoes, they also grow corn and soybeans, and rent some land out to neighbors who use the Iotts’ facilities for storage including machinery rental and handling.
As in other Midwestern states, processing tomato acreage is down, with area processing plants closed. Much of their crop goes to Bluffton, Ind. or Fremont, Ohio. They expect to stay in processing tomatoes for the long haul, and have invested in complete irrigation systems for the specialty crops, with trickle irrigation used in the orchards. Irrigation was very much needed last year, when the whole region turned dry after the middle of June. So far it’s a completely different situation with above average rain expected to continue most of the growing season.
Check out Iott's website at www.tomatoes.com.
