The abrupt closure of BC Tree Fruits, a grower-owned cooperative that packed and sold British Columbia apples amongst other fruits, at the end of July continues to affect how the fall is shaping up for B.C. apples. "That is probably the biggest factor in what is affecting the market right now," says Gord Morrison, senior director of sales at Consolidated Fruit Packers (CFP), a division of Star Produce Ltd.
As he notes, growers in the Western Canadian province were surprised by the sudden closure of the organization, especially so close to the start of the fall apple harvest season. "We could only take on a limited number of new growers. As a packer and marketer, we were also left unprepared to take on large amounts of additional apple volume, along with others in the industry though we were able to secure some additional storage," he says.
Even with additional storage, there is a lot of effort and advanced planning that goes into apple harvest. The logistics around moving and storing thousands of bins from across the Okanagan Valley takes a lot of resources and coordination. "Our organization did an outstanding job managing the extra volume that we did with such a short period of time to prepare. However, overall there is a greater volume of apples that need to be sold from now through December than in previous years in British Columbia," he says.
Good quality B.C. apple crop
The good news is it is a good quality crop this year with good color on the fruit coming in. There are some smaller sizes though on some varieties, such as Gala, which is posing a bit of a challenge. "We had a pretty good summer overall as a growing season, but maybe a little bit too much heat in the summer slowed down the growth at the end," Morrison says.
That said, some varieties such as Ambrosia, which are harvested later in the season, did have more time on the trees to size up. "They've also had more warm days and cool nights to develop that color," says Morrison, adding that the timing of this year's overall harvest was as per usual.
So how is demand? "Canadian retailers are doing their very best to support the Okanagan tree fruit industry. It's just that there's more fruit being offered at this time of year than there normally would be and there are only so many apples being consumed in Western Canada and across the country," he says. "Although we are also looking to other opportunities in markets across the globe to increase apple movement and capitalize on better returns."
Pressure on apple pricing
All of that means that apple pricing is getting more aggressive to ensure that the fruit is moved before it stays in cold storage for too long. "This has all caused a bit of pricing disruption and unpredictability in the market because several packers are trying to sell their fruit first. It's driven down the market on some varieties and packs," says Morrison.
Looking ahead though, Morrison believes that apple pricing will continue to stay aggressive through January at which point it will likely start to stabilize as regular storage fruit gets sold, moves into processing, and more.
"It's a challenging time for everyone but there are a lot of great growers in the Okanogan and in the end, it is also coming down to quality," says Morrison. "If growers can achieve sustainable returns for their crops, then they can afford to invest more back into their orchards and continue to grow premium B.C. apples. Our focus right now is to ensure we get all our apples to market to achieve the best returns possible for our growers."
For more information:
Gino Boensch
Gord Morrison
Consolidated Fruit Packers (CFP)
Tel: +1 (250) 868-1400
https://cfp-ltd.ca/