Distribution
Ever wonder how apples make it from the farm to your fridge?
In this section we will cover just that! We will also cover apple availability and the why buying local is so important!
Getting Apples At The Market
Ever wonder who the sellers are at markets? Some of them are farmers themselves and are there to market their crop directly to you, the consumer. Other farmers sell their apples wholesale and they go out to grocery stores all over Canada!
A lot of farms also sell directly from the farm. Click the link below to see where the closest apple farm is to you.
Reducing food’s carbon footprint
In Ontario, homegrown apples are usually available into the spring, making it possible to buy local even outside of the traditional apple harvest season. This is possible because of cool storage technology, but what’s really important here is that by choosing locally grown apple varieties, we can help reduce the carbon footprint of food.
Apples from Chile, for example, will travel an average of more than 8,000 km to Ontario, whereas local fruit comes from one of the province’s apple growing regions along the shores of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay – at most a few hundred kilometers from orchard to consumer.
What are the seasons for apples grown in Ontario?
Most people associate apple season with the fall – cool crisp days when apples are harvested fresh from the tree. However, fresh and juicy Ontario apples are available right through the winter months too.
That’s thanks to modern science and technology that lets farmers and apple packers carefully store apples so we can enjoy them after the fall harvest season too.
Apples stored in a commercial refrigerated storage will keep for two to three months, but for long term storage up to 12 months, apple growers use controlled atmosphere (CA) storage.
Here’s how it works:
Apples breathe or respire just like people. They naturally take in oxygen and generate carbon dioxide, water and heat through a process called respiration. CA storage is a completely natural process that reduces respiration to a minimum by controlling the environment in which the fruit is stored.
Apples for CA storage are picked at their peak of internal quality and condition. They are rushed into a CA storage chamber the day they are picked. Once the temperature in the chamber is reduced to 1C, the room is sealed with an airtight door and the oxygen level inside is lowered from a normal level of 21 per cent down to two or three per cent. This stops the ripening process by essentially putting the apples to sleep (similar to hibernation in animals) until they are ready to go to market.
Special equipment is used to monitor and control oxygen and carbon dioxide levels inside the sealed storage area to make sure the apples maintain their quality. The quicker apples are cooled and placed into the desired atmosphere, the longer they will store and be of good quality upon removal.
CA storage has been used in the Ontario apple industry for more than 50 years. Over 40 per cent of apples grown in the province are stored using controlled atmosphere storage. Although apples are a popular fruit during the fall harvest season, a large number of Ontario apples are sold and consumed during the winter months. Typically, fresh Ontario apples will be available until May or even early June.
Controlled atmosphere (CA) storage
Above is a quick video on apple availability
Economic Impact Of The Ontario Apple Industry
The Ontario Apple Growers (OAG) represent Ontario apple farmers with 10 acres of orchard or more and in 2020, have approximately 225 members.
There are 15 different main varieties of apples are grown on nearly 15,580 acres in Ontario. The province’s major apple-producing areas are along the shores of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.
The farm gate value of the Ontario apple crop is approx. $97 million, which includes sales to fresh and processing markets and on-farm/pick-your-own.
Our amazing partners who helped to make this possible!