It has not been an easy few seasons for organic apple growers and shippers in British Columbia (B.C.). “This year the volume is about the same on organic apples as last year. Generally both this year and last year’s apple crop is down by about 40 percent. Last year’s crop was impacted by an extended heat wave during the summer and this year it was impacted by a very cold wet spring and poor pollination and then a short heat wave during the peak ripening times,” says Stefan Misse of Discovery Organics.
Mid-November also saw a sizable drop in temperatures in British Columbia from approximately 20 degrees Celsius to below freezing, moving from unseasonably high to unseasonably low in the span of a week. “The fruit trees didn’t have a chance to move into dormancy. There was lots of snow with leaves still on the tree,” he says. Pink Lady apples were the last variety to come off the trees at that time and with the forecasted snow looming, growers managed to largely finish harvesting the B.C. crop.
In general, this year’s weather events have affected some varieties more than others–notably apples that have less pressure overall including Galas, Ambrosias and McIntosh rather than hard-pressure apples such as Pink Lady apples, Braeburn and Fuji.
Labor also continues to be an issue for B.C. organic apple growers. Domestic labor, which the industry has relied on regularly, has dried up since the pandemic and growers are increasingly depending on temporary foreign workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica and various other locations. “They’re also really dependent on the Canadian government to make sure that happens,” says Misse.
Strong demand on organic apples
Meanwhile, demand is strong this season. “Ambrosia is probably our biggest selling apple now and sells 2:1 over the other varieties,” says Misse. “Generally, our revenues are still there on organics but our total cases are less than usual. Average case prices are up but volumes are down overall." The poor pollination and late spring meant the apples didn’t get a chance to size up as well, though that also created more bagged opportunities over bulk and Misse says growers are receiving a good premium for tray pack fruit. He also notes that pricing is the same or about five to 10 percent stronger than last year on the bulk tray packs.
So how does this affect the longer-term outlook? Normally B.C. organic apples would pack and ship until May. “I expect that will now only go until March next year for storage,” he says, noting though that organic apples are not holding up as well in controlled atmosphere storage long-term this season. “Say you’ve got 40,000 bins tucked away in CA for example and you think you’re going to pack 80 percent as fancy grade. It’s not actually coming out as that much volume. A lot of it is going to end up in juice because the storage ability of the apples is not as strong this year.”
In the next few weeks though, there will be a transition from air-stored fruit to CA fruit. “When that happens, there’s usually a bit of a price jump because of CA storage,” says Misse, adding he also anticipates sales to strengthen in the new year thanks to healthy eating resolutions.
For more information:
Stefan Misse
Discovery Organics
Tel: +1 (604) 299-1683
[email protected]
www.discoveryorganics.ca