Although it’s been dry province-wide some regions have seen recent rain. “We got 3/4” last week but the potential in the province because of the crop failure last year is looking really good. We’ve got quite a few young trees in the province that are now a year older so we’re all looking at a pretty decent crop.” Pricing is stable so far – O’Neill says so far it’s somewhat similar to last year. “Because there’s more availability we’ll probably see more ads to sell local apples.”
Because of last year’s crop the province has been out of fruit since about March/April of this year. Current fruit supply has been coming from Washington or parts of the southern hemisphere for the last little while. “In talking to retailers they’re anxious to get back into selling local fruit,” said O’Neill.
Consumption will be increasing as Ontario’s population increases. “I get the feeling consumption is moving up a little bit,” he said. “As a province in Ontario our population grows each year so we’re maintaining our percentage of sale.” Combined with growing interest in both non-alcoholic and alcoholic apple ciders the demand for Ontario apples continues to rise.
For more information:
Tom O'Neill
Norfolk Growers' Association
Ph: (519) 426-0640
toneill@nfga.ca
www.nfga.ca