Anyone who has wondered what goes on in the glasshouses on Midland Hwy near Tatura will have a chance to learn more during a tour on Friday, April 14.
The tour has been organised by Tatura Rotary Club and Flavorite as a fundraiser.
Flavorite is Australia’s largest glasshouse producer of fresh fruit and vegetables, spanning four farms throughout regional Victoria (Katunga, Tatura, Mansfield and Warragul) with more than 70ha of production under glass.
Tatura Rotary Club’s program co-ordinator Sam Lolicato said across Australia there had been an increase in growing food in glasshouses.
“Unlike traditional field farming, Flavorite’s glasshouse production enables them to control all aspects of the growing environment,” Mr Lolicato said.
“With access to state-of-the-art technology and extensive growing experience, Flavorite glasshouse tomato production yields 80kg per square metre versus field tomato production which yields 6.9kg per square metre.
“Further to this, glasshouse production requires 22 litres of irrigation water to produce 1kg of tomatoes versus field production which requires 116 litres to produce 1kg of tomatoes.”
During 2022, Flavorite finalised the build of a new 6ha glasshouse at the Tatura site, which is expected to increase its employee base in the Goulburn Valley region from 110 to 170 employees.
This glasshouse is expected to produce a further 4000 tonnes of tomatoes a year.
The tour will start at 4pm on Friday, April 14 with a session describing the past, current and future plans for the site, followed by a site tour and light refreshments, finishing at 6pm.
The cost is $20, will be administered by the Rotary club and will go directly to a range of Rotary charities.
For more information and to register for a place in the tour email: sj.lolicato@gmail.com