ORESTES — “Being picked” is important to the tomatoes grown for Red Gold, the food company headquartered in this small Madison County town.

This year, the people who run Red Gold got their own chance to get picked, too. The corporation has been chosen to sponsor “The Year of Tomatoes” at the Indiana State Fair, which begins its extended 17-day run Friday in Indianapolis.

“It’s really quite an honor, you know, to be the chief sponsor for the Year of Tomatoes,” said Brian Reichart, chief executive officer of Red Gold. “We’re taking this real seriously, and we’re also trying to have a lot of fun with it.”

The company, an Orestes fixture for more than 60 years, offers a spread of products across several brand names and at least 12 states.

And although this is the third year for the ISF “Year of” theme, the logistics of the 2009 promotion are considerable.

“This is by far the most extensive sponsorship that we’ve had with the ‘Year of’ theme,” said Andy Klotz, public relations director for the Indiana State Fair.

“In ’07, we did ‘The Year of Corn,’ and in ’08, we did ‘The Year of Trees,’ and that was in conjunction with the Indiana Hardwood Lumberman’s Association. But neither of those had the kind of involvement and exposure that Red Gold has with their sponsorship this year.”

It happened when the fair committee, with the state’s agriculture department, chose tomatoes for the theme ag product.

As Reichart puts it, “When we found out it was tomatoes, we thought, ‘Boy, WE know a lot about tomatoes!’”

No final figures were available for Red Gold’s promotional tab at the fair, but CEO Reichart said the sponsorship fee was $75,000.

Still, he added, any kind of advertising is good.

“But this is what we call ‘fun advertising,’” he said.

Part of the fun will be a range of activities and displays, all tied into Red Gold and tomatoes, part of Indiana’s agricultural heritage.



Tomato tossing

One event that won’t be featured is a tomato fight, like La Tomatina, the annual street brawl in Spain, during which 100 metric tons of tomatoes are thrown between competitors.

“You know, our tomatoes nowadays are very firm, and it would hurt to get hit by one of those,” Reichart said.

“We had talked about it,” said Theresa Warren, brand manager for Red Gold. “But we ended up with the Tomato Toss, which will be Aug. 19. And they’re going to throw it in more like a dartboard type of situation.”

Also on this year’s schedule, according to the fair’s Andy Klotz, was a signature food contest, held in July. Various vendors submitted entries to be the signature food, and each had to be tomato-based. The winner was Deep-fried Pizza from Urick Concessions. (Finalists were Pizza Cone, Ya Ya’s Tomato Balls, Sun-dried Tomato Pork Burger and Tomato Bobs.)

Teams of architects and engineers will compete to erect a display out of canned foods, 20,000 pounds of which have been donated by Red Gold. The event is called “Canstruction.”

Other features: an ag display in the Normandy Barn and Greenhouse, on the north side of the faigrounds, and a “Salsa Dance Contest,” in connection with the Jazz Kitchen.

Plus, in the midst of the preparations for this year’s fair, Red Gold’s Reichart said, Tuesday was the first day of canning.

“So we were actually packing tomatoes in the big town of Orestes,” he said.

Reichart agreed that emphasis on the state’s agricultural heritage was important, especially in the wake of its industrial exodus.

“Indiana ranks second in the production of tomatoes for processing, right behind California,” he said. “People sort of forget how important ag is. Indiana is one of the breadbaskets of the United States, so it’s only natural to focus on it.”



The Year of Tomatoes

Sponsor: Red Gold Tomatoes

When: Friday through Aug. 23

Where: Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis

Admission: $8, with $7 for advance tickets. Kids 5 and younger are admitted free



Activities

In addition to tomato plants that will adorn the fairgrounds, other events and activities planned for “Year of Tomatoes” by Red Gold include:

• “Canstruction: One Can Makes a Difference in Tomato Country”: In this competition, created by the Society for Design Administration, teams of architects, engineers and contractors will compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food, including 20,000 pounds of Red Gold tomato products, which will ultimately be donated to the Gleaners Food Bank. Nine teams will begin building their structures on Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Judging and awards will be given for various categories on Saturday. The exhibits will remain on display in the Ball State Ag/Hort Building throughout the run of the fair.

• Tomato Patch Gift Shop: In the middle of the fairgrounds near the main entrance to the midway, the Gazebo Gift Shop will be painted red and accented with giant tomatoes. Inside, fair souvenirs and mementos, including many tomato-related items, will be for sale. Many of them will bear the Red Gold logo.

• Tomato Signature Foods: Voters had five tomato-based foods to choose from for the Indiana State Fair signature food, and in the end, they selected the Deep-fried Pizza from Urick Concessions, with finalists Pizza Cone, Ya Ya’s Tomato Balls, Sun-dried Tomato Pork Burger and Tomato Bobs.

• Celebrity Tomato Toss Contest: On Aug. 19 at 3 p.m. in Pioneer Village, local celebrities, including First Lady Cheri Daniels and local media personalities, will compete in this year’s Celebrity Tomato Toss. Everyone will get three chances to toss a tomato and try to hit a bulls-eye.

• Make Your Own Red Gold Coin Bank: Each day in the Farm Bureau Building, fairgoers will see how cans are seamed and then be able to label their own Red Gold Year of Tomatoes coin bank to take home. Hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

• Salsa Dance Contest, Sunday

• Largest Tomato Contest, Saturday

• Special Agriculture Food Contest, featuring tomatoes, Friday

• Red Gold Salsa Recipe Contest, Aug. 20

• Tomato Trivia of the Day, throughout the fair

• Visitors can learn about the stages of growing tomatoes in the Greenhouse and find all of Indiana’s local Red Gold tomato growers on a large, permanent Indiana map in the Normandy Barn.



— Indiana State Fair