Apples are Canada’s largest fruit crop, with an estimated 416,191 tonnes produced in 2003, accounting for 58.7 per cent of total fruit production and a farmgate value of C$145.3 million. For the 2003/2004 season, export volumes totalled 41,592t to over 15 countries, at a value of C$40.2m, which represents 15 per cent of total domestic production. However, based on the 2001 Statistics Canada Census, from 1996 to 2001, apple-dedicated acreage decreased by 18 per cent because of falling apple prices and the effects of retail consolidation, despite new production practices adopted by the sector and improved yields per hectare.
According to senior market development advisor for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Farid Makki, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec have suffered losses, with record-low production over the last five years due to weather and strong competition from other countries. The farmgate value of Canadian apples from the 2002 crop were C$166m, the same in 2001 at C$166.3m, and almost as low as the 1998 crop at C$160m.
The major varieties produced mainly in eastern Canada are McIntosh, Spartan, Red Delicious, IdaRed and Empire. Recently, British Columbia growers have planted a number of newer apple varieties such as Gala, Fuji, Braeburn, Jonagold, Ambrosia and Honeycrisp, and it is predicted that Gala will become the most important variety in BC. New plantings of Ambrosia are doubling in size every year in BC and increasing in Ontario, and should remain likewise for the next three to four years as grower prices for these newer varieties have moderated in the past couple of years. In addition, Makki says apples continue to compete for limited retail shelf space with other major fruit such as bananas and citrus, but more increasingly from exotic fruits.
Empire World Trade (EWT) has imported Canadian apples for 16 years. Maud Caiveau, a trader says: “Empire is the main variety imported, which is grown on the eastern to north-eastern side of Lake Ontario. EWT imports in the region of 200 containers of Empire from two sources: Norfolk Fruit Growers and Knights Appledon. Canada grows traditionally smaller Empires than New York state, which are the sizes needed in the UK this season.”
The Ontario based Norfolk Fruit Growers’ Association (NGFA) has been very active in the UK for the past five years. It is not a newcomer to the UK market, first sending apples in wooden barrels in 1906 and has continued to do so for the majority of the last century. Today NFGA deal with WorldWide Fruit and Empire World Trade, and the apples go mostly to Tesco and Sainsbury’s. In a good year, 200 containers are shipped from October to June with the main varieties being Empire, Red Delicious and McIntosh, explains Tom O’Neill, general manager of NGFA. “This season the growing conditions were cool and cloudy, and fruit size is of a good size for the UK market. Fruit is well coloured and eats well, though it has suffered on sugar, with brix levels at 11 per cent.”
Total production in the provinces is down eight per cent on last year but O’Neill expects a good run from the crop: “Typically in Ontario, 60 per cent of the crop goes to fresh and 40 per cent to processing. This season it will swing 70-75 per cent to fresh - there will be a lot of apples for the fresh market.”
There was some weather damage from hail in the far east and west, which affected 10-15 per cent of the growers in Ontario. “It was a devastating storm for those affected by it and most of the fruit will have to go to processing,” says O’Neill. “However in the middle of the province, there is a good crop around so luckily we will have overall decent volumes,” he added.
Caron Apple House is a grower/packer and shipper, based one hour south of Montreal in Quebec. Sales manager Benoit Caron says it supplies Canada and the US, though there is interest in exporting to the UK. “Last season we did not export because the overall crop was small and we received good prices for apples in the domestic market. This year, however, our idea to export has been put on hold because of bad weather. A large portion of our crop, 350,000 bushels, was destroyed on July 1 by a freak hailstorm, and we have no volumes to export. The fruit on the trees was damaged and will now be sold to the Canadian processing sector instead.” Harvesting commenced on September 10 for McIntosh and a little later for Spartan, Cortland and Empire varieties. “We have a good crop in Quebec”, says Caron, “and it makes sense to try to export. We are in preparation: new trees have been planted with higher density planting to increase both yield and quality. We are changing from McIntosh production to easier varieties such as Spartan, Empire and Honeycrisp. Some volumes have come from the new trees but it will be several years before they will be sufficient.”
Recently in Ontario, there have been new plantings in dwarf rootstocks, and more varieties going in such as Ambrosia, Honeycrisp, Gala and better strains of Red Delicious. O’Neill says that the entity Canadian Apples has done a lot of work on integrated fruit production, publishing a manual for apple growers, which has been widely adapted in each of the five apple producing provinces.
In March 2002, the Canadian Horticultural Council received C$151,500 from the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development (CARD) fund for “The Canadian Apple Industry National Integrated Fruit Production (IFP) Initiative”. The project is designed to develop national IFP guidelines, principles and standards for the Canadian apple industry and is defined as the economical production of high-quality fruit, prioritising ecologically sound methods, and minimising the use of agricultural chemicals. “There is a greater demand on stricter protocols such as EurepGAP,” says O’Neill. “This is a reaction from the industry to supply growers information to keep them ahead of the curve so when customers start asking for these things, we have them in place,” he says. “The majority of our growers are already certified or in the process of meeting EurepGAP and Natures Choice standards, especially if they have been exporting to the UK. We will have our facilities BRC audited this year.”
Part of the IFP strategy is Integrated Pest Management (IPM). One IPM strategy being put in place is using pheromones in the orchards for control of insects. “Over the last two years, our growers have been using these pheromone ties in the orchard in place of insecticide sprays,” says O’Neill. “The pheromone gives off the scent of the female insect confusing the male and making it difficult for the male to find the female.”
The Quebec Apple Packers’ Association is a solid, well-equipped member base, with 40 packers, says general manager Robert Allard. He has been running the association for three years and has worked in the apple sector for 32 years. “This season there are good volumes and sizes, quality and colour. Some growers were badly hurt by the hail but harvesting has gone ahead and we should see above average volumes (5.2 million-5.3 million cases) in Quebec this season,” he says.
Allard says that on a global scale, Quebec is a small player but that Canada has varieties that are unique to it, and are ideal for cold climates. Quebec specialises in McIntosh and 25 years ago, substantial volumes were exported to the UK. “Over the years the market was lost for two main reasons: in the early 80s, there was a terrible frost where a large portion of production was lost and the sector had to be rebuilt,” Allard explains. “Secondly, we had quality control problems and transportation issues which meant the fruit did not arrive in good condition. However, this has not been the case for a long time now. Production has been renovated, quality control programmes are in place, transportation systems are refrigerated, fruit is traceable and we hope to be able to make offers to overseas markets within the next 12 to 24 months. The systems are in place and the market is well structured - it is just a matter of time.”
Canadian apples are best aimed at niche markets rather than promoting large volumes says Allard. “We don’t want to compete with Washington state or New Zealand variety for variety. We can serve small market demands and promote the quality of the product. We have strict government controls, which hinder our competitiveness, but at least the buyer has peace of mind that quality is good.”
A key target market for the Quebec apple growers aside from the US is the EU, in particular the UK, France and Scandinavia because of similar climatic conditions. “We would need to support our export programme with a promotional campaign for consumers,” says Allard. “Since the Quebec apple sector is relatively small, it would make sense to join forces with other grower associations in the food sector. Fifteen to 20 of our members have the size, equipment and knowledge to export. But we prefer to work as a partnership with other groups who already export rather than destroy the marketplace.”
O’Neill also recognises that it is difficult to differentiate Ontario apples from Quebec apples: “But under the red maple leaf, we could create an identity for Canadian apples in export markets. The push would be to go as a united front.”
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