'Our consumers are so important to us': Ontarians urged to 'buy local' this apple season

Ontario apple growers are urging consumers to buy locally grown fruit this year as the 2024 apple season gets underway.

Whether at the grocery store, a local market, or pick-your-own farm, growers say consumers can expect a wide variety and quantity of delicious fresh apples available this year.

“The 2024 growing season saw an abundance of rain in some areas of the province and very little in others, so we have an excellent crop of apples of all sizes that are ripening earlier than normal this year,” said Brian Rideout, who farms in Chatham-Kent and is chair of the Ontario Apple Growers. “Ontario growers have the expertise and the technology to grow excellent apples and consumers will have plenty of great quality locally grown apples to choose from this year.”

According to the Ontario Apple Growers, Ontario’s most popular apple varieties are Gala, Honeycrisp, and Ambrosia – trees that produce the juicy, crisp, and sweet fruit that research has shown Ontario consumers love.

They are part of the approximately 15 main apple varieties Ontario farmers grow in the province’s main apple growing regions along the shores of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Georgian Bay.

"We're not just harvesting an apple," Rideout explained. "We're harvesting all of nature. We're harvesting the water, we're harvesting the sun, and you can taste it in our apples."

Brian Rideout, chair of the Ontario Apple Growers, on Sept. 17, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

A combination of inflation, price increases on inputs – supplies growers need to produce a crop – and competition from lower priced imported apples has made the last year a tough one economically for the Ontario apple industry. That’s why it’s more important to growers than ever for consumers to choose Ontario apples when they’re shopping, Rideout added.

“2023 was beyond tough for the apple industry, with many growers seeing record low prices for their crop,” Rideout said. “That’s not sustainable for any business in the long-term, and we’re hoping for a better year this year. So we are really encouraging Ontarians to support local food producers by reaching for those Ontario grown apples when they’re making their food purchasing choices.”

Rideout said although fall harvest is when apples come off the tree, Ontarians can expect to enjoy fresh locally grown fruit all winter long thanks to innovative storage technologies.

"Our consumers are so important to us,” said Rideout. “They're who we grow an apple for and we need them to understand that that local produce is always available and they should be looking for that Foodland label. They should be asking the grocery store, is that Ontario? And if it's not Ontario, is it Canadian? And that really help us for next year."

Rideout noted Ontario Apple Growers represents close to 180 commercial apple farmers across the province, with roughly 15,000 acres of production in Ontario.