It’s been a challenging year for most Canadian apple farmers. Heatwaves in British Columbia and Ontario this summer and cold snaps in Eastern Ontario and Quebec this spring could slash production by 10% from a year earlier, according to industry estimates.
Last year was a different story. Despite a serious labour shortage as a result of border closure to contain the pandemic, marketed apple production rose 1.3% to 385 million kilograms in 2020, while sales rose 5.4% to $259 million, in part because of the popularity of u-pick apple orchards, considered a safe family outing during the pandemic.
Organic apple farmers did even better, with sales rising 19.7% to $21.9 million in 2020.
According to our food availability survey, which indicates the amount of food that is physically present in a country for consumption, Canadians are eating more fruit. Food available for consumption generally reflects consumer demand for preferred food options.
The total amount of fresh fruit available, including citrus, rose 2.9% from a decade earlier to 77.0 kilograms per person in 2020, led by fresh fruit production (+28.6%) and imports (+13.7%). Apples available for consumption rose 1.8% from a year earlier but was down 10.8% from a decade earlier.
On the flip side, the availability of most juices has been decreasing for over a decade. Lower demand for juice may be due to health-conscious consumers shifting away from sugary drinks. The availability of all juices was down 2.7% from 2019 and down 21.6% from 2010. The availability of apple juice fell 0.7% from a year earlier and was down by one-third (33.0%) from a decade earlier.
The higher availability of ciders, coolers and other refreshment beverages (+116.7%), which has over doubled from a decade earlier, made up for these losses.
Final fruit and vegetable production as well as food availability for 2021 will be released in the spring of 2022.
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