Canada’s apple-growing industry is evolving with the launch of a distinct identity: Apples Canada/Pommes Canada.
The announcement was made during this year’s midsummer meeting of the Apple Working Group of the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC), held in Moncton, N.B.
WHY IT MATTERS
Creating the Apples Canada banner means a stronger national voice for collaboration, increased consumer confidence, and greater resilience in the global marketplace.
Five provinces, one name
Apple grower organizations in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia unanimously agreed to adopt this new name.
“Apples Canada is an evolution, not a starting point, and we had a structure in place that Ontario was part of,” said Kelly Ciceran, Ontario Apple Growers (OAG) general manager. “We wanted to create a new identity that gives our collaboration greater visibility, structure and purpose.”
Apples Canada will operate in partnership with, and under, FVGC, ensuring collaboration is front and centre for provincial apple organizations and addressing central issues such as sustainability, production, market development, research, promotion and public policy affecting the nation’s apple industry.
Ontario Apple Growers anticipates that active membership in Apples Canada will deliver a unified, consistent Canadian apple message.
“We want to reduce duplication across provinces by understanding what other provinces are doing,” Ciceran said. “We share many common issues, and we hope we can tackle them together where possible.”
Also, Ontario Apple Growers anticipates that Apples Canada will help create more funding opportunities.
“We hope to pursue federal funding for programs such as agri-marketing and agri-science, where we can,” Ciceran said. “We will have collective research priorities and speak with greater clarity to government and the broader supply chain.”
With more than 200 members of the Ontario Apple Growers, apple growers have diverse farms that cover acreage across the province.
National promotion of apples
With Apples Canada as the new identity, apple growers’ promotional efforts across provinces will shift, and so will what it means for apple consumers. “Each province does its own promotions directly to consumers,” Ciceran said. “With Apples Canada, we want to work together to increase consumption of Canadian apples.”
Apples Canada will also act as a hub to promote quality, accessible apples for consumers and collaboration across the value chain, aligning growers, packers, processors, retailers, governments and consumers.
“Consumers value local food, and Canadian apples are an important part of that connection,” said Charles Stevens, chair of Apples Canada. “Making locally grown apples accessible across Canada is a responsibility shared by everyone involved in bringing food from our orchards to consumers’ tables.”
Apples Canada was established to strengthen apple growers’ work, speak with one voice and address issues at all provincial levels.
“When we have this forum to come together, each province brings something to the table,” Ciceran said. “We all have expertise, resources and regional knowledge, so we can pursue these initiatives together rather than as a single province.”
How it will work
Apples Canada at a glance
- Members: apple grower organizations in B.C., Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
- Operates in partnership with and under the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada
- Chair: Charles Stevens
- Ontario representation: two appointees plus the provincial executive director
- Files: sustainability, production, market development, research, promotion and public policy
The selection process for membership in Apples Canada is that two people are appointed by the executive directors of OAG, and their responsibility is to carry ideas and initiatives forward and to report back to the province. Also, all the executive directors for each province’s organization are part of Apples Canada.
Ciceran said the goal is practical. “When we come together at Apples Canada to talk about the issues everyone is facing, our goal is to ensure that Canadian-grown apples are available in the future.
“We hope this stronger co-ordination will help.”
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