Canada continues to reinvigorate the perishables trade from coast to coast and well beyond. Growers are developing new varieties and using more high-tech tools, and distributors are packing and shipping fruits and vegetables to the far corners of the world.
Our west-to-east trek showcases growing regions, packhouse innovations, wholesale markets, retail happenings, and all things fresh produce across the True North. For better coverage of this immense country from field to fork, there are two separate articles in this supplement: West (from British Columbia and the Yukon Territory to Manitoba) and East (from Ontario to Nova Scotia).
The Western Frontier
Many successful produce businesses call the country’s westernmost provinces and territories home with sustained, commercial production of fresh fruit and vegetables, including an expanding greenhouse sector.
These companies enjoy a number of unique advantages, including an expan-ding customer base as British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) are home to the country’s fastest growing population rate, representing a third of Canada’s residents.
David Karwacki, CEO of Star Produce Ltd., a distributor headquartered in Saskatoon, SK, with facilities in three other provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba) is a super fan of the region. “When I look at the advantages coming out of Western Canada, it’s the people—they’re loyal, trustworthy, and hard working.
“Our company started in Western Canada,” he adds, “and we’ve branched out from there. We’ve been able to draw great people into our company and have these people reach out across the entire produce industry.”
Roughly two-thirds of Canada’s population growth is due to immigration, according to Statistics Canada, as fresh faces arrive to take in the region’s beauty and bounty. “The [Western Canada] immigration forecast remains strong, with 35,000 immigrants arriving annually in Alberta alone,” notes Roy Hinchey, CEO of Thomas Fresh Inc. in Calgary. In response, Thomas Fresh has expanded into ethnic specialty produce. “Ethnic produce is relatively new to Alberta and Saskatchewan, so there is money to be made,” he says.
One category in particular continues to grow rapidly with the flow of new residents. “Our industry is seeing a greater Asian influence in Western Canada,” notes Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, “with more demand for what was once considered specialized produce now flowing through from international exporters like China.”
Canada continues to reinvigorate the perishables trade from coast to coast and well beyond. Growers are developing new varieties and using more high-tech tools, and distributors are packing and shipping fruits and vegetables to the far corners of the world.
Our west-to-east trek showcases growing regions, packhouse innovations, wholesale markets, retail happenings, and all things fresh produce across the True North. For better coverage of this immense country from field to fork, there are two separate articles in this supplement: West (from British Columbia and the Yukon Territory to Manitoba) and East (from Ontario to Nova Scotia).
The Western Frontier
Many successful produce businesses call the country’s westernmost provinces and territories home with sustained, commercial production of fresh fruit and vegetables, including an expanding greenhouse sector.
These companies enjoy a number of unique advantages, including an expan-ding customer base as British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) are home to the country’s fastest growing population rate, representing a third of Canada’s residents.
David Karwacki, CEO of Star Produce Ltd., a distributor headquartered in Saskatoon, SK, with facilities in three other provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba) is a super fan of the region. “When I look at the advantages coming out of Western Canada, it’s the people—they’re loyal, trustworthy, and hard working.
“Our company started in Western Canada,” he adds, “and we’ve branched out from there. We’ve been able to draw great people into our company and have these people reach out across the entire produce industry.”
Roughly two-thirds of Canada’s population growth is due to immigration, according to Statistics Canada, as fresh faces arrive to take in the region’s beauty and bounty. “The [Western Canada] immigration forecast remains strong, with 35,000 immigrants arriving annually in Alberta alone,” notes Roy Hinchey, CEO of Thomas Fresh Inc. in Calgary. In response, Thomas Fresh has expanded into ethnic specialty produce. “Ethnic produce is relatively new to Alberta and Saskatchewan, so there is money to be made,” he says.
One category in particular continues to grow rapidly with the flow of new residents. “Our industry is seeing a greater Asian influence in Western Canada,” notes Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, “with more demand for what was once considered specialized produce now flowing through from international exporters like China.”
British Columbia
British Columbia is Canada’s westernmost and third largest province, which spans from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Home to 3,180 fruit growers, there were 24,147 cultivated hectares of fruit in 2016, with a total farm gate value of nearly $400 million.
The province is well known as Canada’s blueberry champ, supplying its residents and the country before exporting to the world. Blueberries are British Columbia’s top fruit export; it also ranks first in grape and cranberry production and is also a top producer of strawberries and raspberries. The southwestern portion of the province where most fruit is cultivated enjoys around 180 frost-free days each year, a sharp contrast to its northern reaches and neighboring provinces.
Additionally, British Columbia is home to a thriving tree fruit industry, with 800 growers operating orchards that generate $130 million in wholesale revenue each year. Most of these fruit orchards are located in the aforementioned southwest, in the Okanagan Valley. Although apples and sweet cherries are the province’s two largest tree fruit crops, growers also harvest pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and plums.
“In the Okanagan Valley, there’s tremendous production of apples and pears, and one of the best cherry deals in the world,” enthuses Karwacki. “In August and September, they’re some of the only sweet cherries in the world, and they are of fantastic quality.”
Greenhouse production is also big business in British Columbia. With 125 greenhouses, the province represented 23 percent of total farm gate value of Canada’s greenhouse vegetable sector in 2016, reaching over $300 million—second only to Ontario. The province’s primary greenhouse offerings are the usual: tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
Vancouver, a bustling coastal city in the lower mainland region of British Columbia, is home to the Produce Terminal. Often referred to as the Old Malkin Avenue Market, the terminal was originally founded in 1948.
Yet, like many markets across North America, Vancouver’s produce terminal has continued to shrink in recent years as wholesalers move off the premises to newer, more expansive state-of-the-art certified warehouse facilities.
“The terminal market that once existed in Vancouver has kind of disappeared,” admits Karwacki. “Wholesalers were required to move into larger, very food safe facilities. I think that’s the trend in the industry, because everybody wants safe food.”
Alberta
With over 4 million residents, Alberta is the fastest-growing province in Canada. Between 2011 and 2016, its population grew by 11.6 percent. Alberta is also Canada’s second largest agricultural producer, earning nearly one quarter of Canada’s farm cash receipts.
Although wheat is the province’s top crop, followed by barley and canola, Alberta is also a major potato producer. In 2016, the province ranked third in Canadian potato production, behind Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. Alberta was responsible for 19 percent of the country’s total spud production.
Immensity Fuels Abundance
Stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic to the Arctic, Canada spans more than 3.8 million square miles of land and water. This immensity encompasses ten provinces, three territories, and an array of growing regions.
Despite its northern latitude and relatively short growing season, Canada’s commercial growers harvest a wealth of fresh fruits and vegetables—from apples, pears, cherries, and blueberries to
carrots, potatoes, onions, and lettuce.
According to Statistics Canada, fruit and vegetables continue to see growth with combined cultivated area expanding by 2.3 percent in 2016. National farm gate value for vegetables in 2016 skyrocketed to $1.2 billion, up 7.6 percent from the prior year. Carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, dry onions, sweet corn, broccoli, and peppers accounted for more than half of the total value of field-grown vegetables. The value of Canadian fruit reached the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2016, an increase of 7.1 percent. Blueberries accounted for one-quarter of total national fruit value.
Potatoes are by far the largest vegetable crop in Canada, accounting for nearly 30 percent of all vegetable receipts. A large portion is shipped to destinations across the globe, though North American trading partners—the United States and Mexico—corral most. Off the continent, Japan is the next top receiver of spuds. In the 2015-16 crop year, exports of Canadian potatoes and related products reached an estimated $1.60 billion.
Home to 300 fruit and vegetable farms, the province also grows a variety of produce including onions, carrots, cabbage, sweet corn, beets, peas, pumpkins, rhubarb, Saskatoon berries, strawberries, and raspberries.
“There are great in-season products grown in Alberta—like corn, beans, and root crops—but the season is really short,” explains Brian Lewis, produce director for Federated Co-Operatives Limited in Calgary. “There’s also a lot of product grown under glass here year-round.”
Indeed, there are approximately 230 greenhouses in the province covering more than 135 hectares. The province’s greenhouse vegetable farm gate value reached $54.6 million in 2016.
“We have a thriving greenhouse industry in both southern Alberta and the lower mainland of Vancouver that has been a supplier both in Western Canada and into the United States,” explains Karwacki. Most of the greenhouses grow the usual fare (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers), but on a much smaller scale Alberta greenhouses also produce lettuce, arugula, basil, eggplant, and snap beans.
“We [at Star Produce] just opened a new lettuce greenhouse in southern Alberta with an innovative lettuce product,” shares Karwacki. “It’s a living lettuce product with three types of lettuce in one head.” He says the greenhouse holds two-and-a-half hectares of the unique leafy greens.
Alberta is also a top agri-food exporter for Canada, with exports of processed products valued at nearly $10.0 billion in 2016, comprised of a range of value-added items though only a portion are produce-related, like potato products.
When it comes to shipments leaving the province, Hinchey says trucking is the primary mode of transportation. “Alberta employs the largest number of truckers within Canada, and this is en route to grow,” he says.
This is backed up by solid numbers as Alberta accounts for a quarter of the total heavy truck population in Canada. Un-fortunately, the province’s trucking industry like many elsewhere in Canada and the United States, is currently facing a crisis—a severe shortage of drivers—predicted to reach as high as 33,000 or more by 2020.
Saskatchewan
One of the three Prairie Provinces, Saskatchewan borders Alberta to its west and the United States to its south. The province’s population has seen a significant growth spurt in recent years—the second-fastest rate in Canada between 2011 and 2016.
Saskatchewan is a major producer of Saskatoon berries, with an estimated 1,100 acres of the juicy fruit, accounting for more than 34 percent of Canada’s commercial acreage.
Saskatchewan also produces apples and cherries, and strawberry and raspberry production continues to rise. Total farm gate value for fruit production in the province reached $1.2 million in 2016.
Vegetable production is climbing too: in 2016, total farm gate value for field vegetables grown in the province reached nearly $2.6 million. “Agriculture in the Prairie Provinces is strongly expanding, and we continue diversifying crops,” says Hinchey, with both trending items and old favorites being planted. “Commodities such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and beets are being grown in larger quantities.”
In Saskatchewan, collaboration is a key part of produce operations; Hinchey says suppliers work closely with their counterparts in Alberta. “Alberta and Saskatchewan are relatively open markets and strongly connected socially, where trust and a handshake mean as much today as they did 100 years ago.”
Because it borders the United States, Saskatchewan is also one of the nation’s leading agri-food exporters, second only to Ontario. In 2016, the province’s
agri-food exports were valued at $14.4 billion, representing 23 percent of Canada’s total.
Retail Scene
The retail industry across western Canada has become fiercely competitive, forcing grocers large and small to offer customers a variety of perks and services.
“There’s no question the tough retail competition we saw in different parts of the world is occurring in western Canada in spades,” asserts David Karwacki, CEO of Star Produce Ltd., in Saskatoon, SK. “Traditional foodservice players are moving into retail, other retailers like Walmart have moved in, and it’s just become a very competitive environment.”
Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, agrees, citing the rising number of Canadian consumers opting for nontraditional shopping methods. “Online grocery orders and home meal kit delivery companies are growing, and although they currently represent a small share of the market, we expect to see this rise
in 2018.”
And although Canadian consumers have been largely receptive to marketing campaigns, the trend will be buoyed by renewed government-sponsored initiatives. “We’re expecting to see a returned focus to nutrition and healthy eating with the federal government’s ‘Food Policy for Canada’ and the relaunch of Canada’s Food Guide,” explains Lemaire. “As an association, we’re focusing on education and food safety to ensure our future success.”
The Western Canada retail scene is primarily dominated by Walmart, Loblaw, Costco, Sobeys, and Overwaitea Food Group.
Based in British Columbia, Overwaitea now operates more than 140 stores across the west under a number of banners including Save-On-Foods, Overwaitea Foods, Urban Fare, PriceSmart Foods, PriceSmart Foods International, and Bulkley Valley Wholesale.
“Sobeys and Safeway, the traditional retailers in our area, have been very strong,” points out Karwacki. “When you get all of these players involved in the industry and bring in a very predatory player like Walmart, all of the sudden everybody needs to get their elbows up—that’s what has occurred in Western Canada.”
A case in point is the conversion of numerous Safeway and Sobeys stores in western provinces to the discount FreshCo banner, to try and stave off Walmart and other lower-priced rivals.
Roy Hinchey, CEO of Thomas Fresh Inc. in Calgary, says retailers across the region are constantly innovating and reinventing themselves for consumer fulfillment. “Market share has become increasingly divided among many different chains,” he notes, agreeing with Lemaire that online shopping is having
a notable impact.
“With massive distribution companies like Amazon pop-up stores, online shopping, and home delivery services, a definite pattern is emerging,” observes Hinchey. “Shoppers want as many ways to get their groceries as possible. Technology makes all this possible and as scary as change is, big brands have the financial backing and drive to address and capitalize on these new trends and niche markets.”
Like its neighbor, Alberta, Hinchey says Saskatchewan has a flourishing trucking industry. “For Thomas Fresh, our most travelled trucking routes begin in either California, Washington, or Idaho with destinations in British Columbia, Alberta, or Saskatchewan.”
Manitoba
Just west of Ontario, Manitoba stretches from the northern Arctic tundra to Hudson Bay in the east. Although the province’s primary crops have long been wheat and barley, the soil and climatic conditions in the province’s southern and western regions are ideal for cultivating potatoes.
Home to more than 80,000 acres of potatoes, including more than 24 varieties, Manitoba claimed 21 percent of Canada’s total potato production in 2016, second only to Prince Edward Island.
Manitoba’s commercial potato industry is divided into the usual three categories, producing for the fresh, processing, and seed potato markets. Three major processors in Manitoba employ over 1,000 workers and are responsible for half of the country’s potato processing volume each year.
The province’s farmers also harvest a variety of other field vegetables including carrots, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet corn, and broccoli. Total farm gate value for Manitoba-grown vegetables reached nearly $15.7 million in 2016.
Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut
Located in northern Canada, Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories have long, harsh winters thanks to their arctic and subarctic climates. Consequently, these provin-ces and territories have minimal fruit and vegetable production.
Although there are very few farm operators in Yukon and the Northwest Territories, these numbers are increasing. According to Statistics Canada, farm operators in Yukon and the Northwest Territories rose to 234 in 2016, a 2.6 percent increase from five years earlier in 2011.
More than one-quarter of all farms in Yukon and the Northwest Territories reported growing field crops, with oats dominating. Fruit, nut, and berry acreage grew in 2016, including more acres devoted to Saskatoon berries and raspberries. Greenhouses, with rising acreage elsewhere in Canada, are declining in the region, likely due to the cost of maintaining light and heat during the coldest winter months.
In Canada’s arctic region, Nunavut experiences an extremely brief yet intense summer growing season due to the midnight sun. This greatly limits local production of crops; according to the latest Statistics Canada report, Nunavut has no commercial farms.
Because of the lack of local farms, produce is usually shipped to Canada’s northernmost communities by air, truck, or barge. In Nunavut, shoppers pay more than $12 for a kilogram of celery (almost four times more than the national average) and nearly $7 for a kilogram of potatoes. Food insecurity and inaccessibility affects 18.5 percent of Nunavut households. The Canadian government is investing over $13 million a year to help support these isolated communities.
Charity organizations are helping out, as well. The not-for-profit Growing North constructed a greenhouse in Naujaat, Nunavut in 2015, where enough vegetables are produced to feed half of the 1,000-person community every day. The organization has plans to build two more greenhouses in a second Nunavut community.
Onward and Upward
There is no question that Western Canada produce businesses face a number of obstacles—from extremely harsh winter weather to remote locations to clientele. Despite these challenges, the West’s produce trade continues to innovate and thrive.
While Karwacki doesn’t think anyone expects Western Canada to “explode in population growth” he believes businesses do need to “get better on the production side at reaching out to the world. There’s an opportunity for producers with great tasting items to look outwards to bigger population bases and send their products there. With a little ingenuity, producers can build their reach beyond just the small population base of Western Canada.”
Hinchey reflects much of the same optimism, adding, “The future looks bright as Western Canadians work together to improve alliances and incorporate the new ways of doing business with the old.”
