These hit the Market Basket last week and a great bargain at $3.99 for two pounds, five peppers about ten inches long. Little waste, sweet taste with a bit of black pepper. Regular red peppers have been $4.99 a pound and organic $5.99.
Press release on the "Ancient Sweets":
Peppers
Ancient Sweets is a greenhouse line of sweet long peppers from Mastronardi Produce Ltd., Kingsville, Ontario. The peppers have a brix level about 1.5 points above that of a regular sweet red pepper.
"It’s the Campari of the pepper category," says vice president Paul Mastronardi. The company tested the product last year, and full commercial production will begin the last week of April. Mastronardi would not disclose the crop’s acreage except to say it is 20 times greater than the test crop.
The suggested retail price on the 8-ounce package is $2.99, and the 1.5-pound package is $5.99.
The 6- to 8-inch long Ancient Sweets are a reflection of the company’s mission to always look for the next big product, Mastronardi says, and this fits with the company’s two-step marketing philosophy. One, you must be able to lead the customer to the product. Two, the product’s flavor will keep them coming back for more, he says.