Lycored celebrated its 20-year anniversary on Tuesday, Oct. 13 during National Tomato Month with a Guinness World Record for the largest display of tomato varieties in Times Square New York. Lycored—a global provider of natural carotenoids for food, beverage and dietary supplement products—displayed more than 130 varieties of tomatoes—ranging from hybrid, cherry and heirloom varieties to funky and lesser known varieties such as Sausage, Mint Julep, Sun Peach and Black from Tula. The tomatoes were verified by Guinness World Record adjudicator Michael Empric and Monica Ozores-Hampton, Ph.D., associate professor, vegetable specialist at University of Florida.
In addition to its display of tomato varieties, a giant tomato salad was constructed by the Lycored team and Chef Donny Rogoff in a giant wok on a stage in the middle of Times Square. Why a tomato salad? Well, for obvious reasons: It’s healthy, it’s a celebration of National Tomato Month, and it’s a great way to demonstrate how consumers can incorporate wellness into their daily routine. The salad was delicious! It was made with heirloom cherry tomatoes with a red wine citrus vinaigrette. Additional salads were donated to City Harvest, the world’s first food rescue organization that is dedicated to helping feed nearly 1.4 million New Yorkers.
It was a great event that not only celebrated the tomato, but it celebrated wellness while getting the local community involved. More than 1,000 Ibs of tomatoes were gathered to serve visitors! That’s impressive!