A year after the closure of the BC Tree Fruit Cooperative, orchardists in British Columbia's Okanagan region report stable conditions for this year's apple crop. The weather this summer has supported good fruit set and sizing, following recent years of challenges with extreme cold and heat.
Bella Rosa Orchards owner Sam DiMaria said, "The weather we've had this summer so far has been as close to ideal as possible. The quality of the fruit is fantastic... the apples are looking really good." He noted that some varieties are performing slightly worse than last year, while others are better, but overall quality is strong.
BC Fruit Growers' Association executive director Adrian Arts added, "We had really good conditions at bloom this year and... we had reasonable temperatures, good pollination conditions. The fruit is looking really nice. We're seeing beautiful size on the apples."
While some orchards are still seeing the effects of past cold snaps and heat domes, the overall crop outlook has returned to normal.
The closure of the 88-year-old cooperative forced growers to move to private packers. "The whole thing changed overnight," DiMaria said. "That meant that a change of attitude from the growers towards their packers, shippers, and marketers was necessary." While some growers struggled with storage and marketing last year, the industry has adjusted to the new system.
Controlled-atmosphere storage remains a challenge. Orchardist Amarjit Lalli noted that the co-op's closure reduced capacity to keep apples in storage for up to eight months. He compared BC's output of two million boxes with Washington State's 170 million, pointing out the disparity in supply. "We're a drop in the bucket," Lalli said, adding that Washington's production floods the market and depresses prices.
Arts highlighted pricing issues, noting that Canadian supermarkets dominate procurement. "They dictate what the price is," he said. Growers receive about C$0.50 (US$0.37) per pound, while retail prices range between C$2.50–C$3.50 (US$1.84–US$2.58) per pound.
DiMaria said, "It's becoming evident to me that some ... private packers struggled to return enough money to the growers. And a few other packers actually did better than what the co-op was doing." He added, "I think everyone will find their place where they fit into this whole system, whether they fit at all or whether they bow out of the industry or whether they keep going."
As growers face competition from Washington apples, limited storage, and supermarket pricing pressure, they continue to emphasize the importance of local purchasing.
Source: InfoTel
