Our promise to put what matters most before convenience and profit.
Big Marble First is more than a sustainability program; it’s our mindset, our purpose, and our “why”. It places the well-being of our planet’s future at the forefront of all business decisions.
It’s why we are constantly exploring innovative ideas in sustainable packaging. Big Marble First is our promise to future generations to put what matters most before convenience and profit.
Packing Big Marble Farms premium produce in protective packaging increases its shelf life and reduces food waste. Those benefits, combined with sustainably sourced, compostable and recyclable packaging materials, drive our Big Marble First packaging program.
But we still love tractors, and we love our planet. We believe that if we just keep farming and marketing as sustainably as possible there’ll be plenty of great outdoors for our children to enjoy for years to come. And our grandchildren, too!
Our cucumber, tomato and pepper crops drink a lot of water! Ensuring they receive the perfect amount of water and nutrients exactly when they need it is as tricky as it sounds. Our hydroponic irrigation system delivers precise amounts of fresh water and nutrients to each plant, directly, several times a day. No water is wasted!
“Biological Controls” sounds scary. We prefer IPM, or Integrated Pest Management. That’s when we avoid the use of pesticides by releasing predator insects into the greenhouse. These good bugs take care of (biologically control) any freeloading bugs that may be upsetting the crop.
Our cucumber and tomato crops grow so quickly they keep us on our toes. We use a high wire system that allows the plants to continually grow upwards, while producing fruit at a consistent and easy to harvest height. It’s a daily managed, continual process, but those cucumbers and tomatoes are sure worth it!
One of the best ways for us to increase the yield of our greenhouse crops is to use bumble bees to pollinate the plants. We place beehives at strategic locations throughout the greenhouse and leave the bees to get to the job done. They set their own hours, take breaks whenever they like, and work weekends. They’re born for the job!
Because we use a “high wire” process for growing tomatoes and cucumbers, we are constantly pruning and deleafing the crop. Vine height is adjusted as the plants grow, and all lower leaves are removed and composted. It’s labour intensive, but produces an incredible yield of fruit in a small, sustainable footprint.
Big Marble produce is all hand picked at just the right time: not too green, and not too ripe. Crops like tomatoes and peppers are picked and placed directly into the sustainable packaging that protects the fruit all the way to market.
Water conservation is a huge benefit of greenhouse farming, but it comes with the even bigger responsibility for food safety. We continually test and treat our recycled water supply to ensure that it is free of microbial pests and 100% safe for our crops, and you!
We collect all rainwater that falls on our greenhouses, as well as any irrigation runoff that our crops were not able to use. Our Big Marble First water circulation program uses low energy ultraviolet lighting to treat our irrigation water so we can keep unnecessary chemicals and fertilizers off our farms.
Our high-tech, sustainable greenhouses are fitted with supplemental, energy-efficient lighting systems that allow us to grow premium quality produce year round—even through Alberta winters!
We know a lot about light inside the greenhouse, but not too much about the light we emit. To limit the amount of light that escapes our greenhouses at night, we simply draw the curtains. See you in the morning!
Our high-tech, sustainable greenhouses are fitted with supplemental, energy-efficient lighting systems that allow us to grow premium quality produce year round—even through Alberta winters!
We know a lot about light inside the greenhouse, but not too much about the light we emit. To limit the amount of light that escapes our greenhouses at night, we simply draw the curtains. See you in the morning!
Because we farm in high tech hydroponic greenhouses where we can measure the exact amount of water and nutrients our plants use and ensure that the environment is tuned for each crop exactly, this allows us to harvest premium, perfect produce. Every time!
Meet our most recent Big Marble First sustainable paperboard package: the Beefsteak Tomato 4-Pack. Containing four large, juicy slicers, this attractive and easy-to-lift box is rugged enough not to tear and revealing enough to display the perfect fruit inside without needing opening.
Introduced to the Big Marble First sustainable packaging program in 2021 is the must-have burger barbecue companion, Alberta’s Hamburger Pack. Two juicy, 365 Alberta grown, vine ripened beefsteak slicers paired with a 100% plastic free, highly recyclable paperboard box. Try the best burger recipe on the package bottom and let us know what you think!
Red Grape, Red Cherry and Mingle snacking tomatoes are available in our easy-open, highly sustainable, super easy to carry and super cute, 100% post consumer recycled paperboard pint packs.
Extending our Simply Marbleous line of Snacking tomatoes is the 1 x 8 count Cocktail Tomatoes on-the-Vine pack. These fresh and even still ripening on the vine tomatoes are 365 Alberta grown, and retail in 100% plastic free, highly recyclable paperboard boxes that minimize shopper handling.
100% post-consumer, fibre formed food trays form the foundation of our six and eight count mini cucumber packages. They are wrapped with a 100% recyclable stretch film and branded with a paper label.
Grape, Cherry and Mingle snacking tomatoes are available in 1.5 lb compostable bowls, sealed with recyclable, easy-peal, transparent lidding film.
Our corrugated produce trays are made with certified responsibly sourced North American fibre. The materials are unbleached and minimally processed, with single colour graphics applied with water-based inks. They are 100% recyclable.