Harvey DeMelo, of Osoyoos, does everything from growing to packing and marketing of close to 200 acres of stone fruits. “There is a quicker payoff with soft fruits than apples and the money for packing house infrastructure—waxing machines, CA storage—is much less,” DeMelo said.
He uses brokers but won’t sign any contracts.
Three years ago he hired a salesman so he could spend more time with his family and farm. Sandhu Fruit Farm in
Graem Nelson and peaches each year.
“Because we’re small we can be more efficient and do an excellent job of packing. The market rewards us and in turn the grower,” said Rick Machial, who owns the business with his brother, Joe. Each year the Machials have to turn away growers.
The brothers use Pro-Fresh Marketing International in Kelowna to market their fruit at home and overseas.
Graem Nelson Associates of Penticton offers services similar to Pro-Fresh. “We provide a complete service from soliciting orders and navigating customs to arranging for transport worldwide and collecting from the customer,” Nelson said.
Both companies deal primarily in cherries.
Keith and Jan Carlson of
Summerland, who use Nelson’s services, started their cherry line in 1999 because they wanted to have control of their crop from beginning to end.
“We’ll take responsibility for our cherries, but we don’t want to get blamed for someone else’s problems,” Keith said, referring to the cooperative’s policy of paying on the basis of pooled cherries.
He estimates that building a cherry packing facility costs between $750,000 and $2 million, which eliminates smaller growers.
Ongoing costs such as labour are also important considerations.
Shipped under the Sweet Diamond label, Carlson cherries carry a Global GAP certification, which is important because the majority of the crop is exported.
“I update Graem year-round on such things as types of sprays and anticipated quality and quantity of each variety,” Keith said.
A small percentage of his crop is sold to individuals who in turn supply grocery chains in Western Canada.
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2010 9 SUSAN MCIVER
Summerland sells approximately 80 percent of its total crop from 40 acres directly to fruit stands in the Vancouver area.
During the season, Balwinder Singh Sandhu delivers fruit in a large refrigerated truck.
The remaining 20 per cent of Sandhu’s crop, mainly apples, goes to the OTFC.
Wayne and Nina Richards, owners of Eagle Bluff Orchards near Vasuex Lake, rely heavily on direct marketing to sell more than 50 varieties of soft fruit and several kinds of summer apples they raise on their 17-acre farm.
Over the years, approximately 60 per cent of the crop has been sold farm-gate, at fruit stands or farmers’ markets. Last year, their daughter Kathy Hanley and her husband Scott started selling at three farmers’ markets at the coast.
“The kids have a refrigerated truck Balwinder Singh Sandhu
and go for two days at a time starting in late June through mid-September,” Nina said.
Wholesalers, often called truckers, take about 40 percent of the Richards’ fruit for resale in B.C. and Alberta markets.
Ron and Karen Bidniak who operate a 10-acre orchard, Riverside Orchard, in Keremeos, deliver tree-ripened stone fruit to home customers mainly in the Fraser Valley.
Their successful direct sales method started when the Bidniaks moved from Port Coquitlam and friends and relatives asked how they could obtain their fruit. “It grew by word of mouth,” Karen
said.
The Bidniaks’ certified organic pears are sold to Harkers’ Fruit Ranch in Cawston, which wholesales organic produce in addition to operating a fruit stand.
SUSAN MCIVER
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