Facets of Freshness

“The renovations should be completed by September of this year,” advised Bruce Nicholas, general manager, secretary, and treasurer of the OFT. “The main difference between Toronto and other markets such as Hunts Point is that we have a wholesale farmers’ market and central cold storage, about 100,000-square feet of cold storage at the base level.”

“They’re also improving handicapped access to the offices,” offered Ian MacKenzie, president at the Toronto-based Ontario Produce Marketing Association (OPMA). “These improvements are very good, it’s a popular spot, and [the market] can’t move as its largest customer base is the downtown greater Toronto area. If the market moved for more space, it would have to be far out of town and [the suppliers] would certainly lose some customers. To compensate for the size challenge, however, at least half of the merchants have constructed warehouse space off site.”

Bad Breaks: Inclement Weather
This past winter, Toronto and the Ontario region, along with the northeastern United States, were plagued with extreme cold and snow. This impacted the produce industry in several ways: shipping and deliveries were restricted; citizens were homebound and not able to go to stores or restaurants as much; greenhouse growers fought icy roofs and plunging temperatures; and an ice storm caused a power outage for a few days, stalling operations at the terminal and for retailers and wholesalers throughout the region.

“The Northeast and our neck of the woods experienced a long, cold winter that we were happy to say goodbye to,” commented Larry Davidson, vice president of procurement for North American Produce Buyers, Ltd., located on the Ontario Food Terminal.

MacKenzie agreed: “The winter wasn’t nice to us,” he says. “A storm took the power out two days before Christmas, and it was out for almost two and a half days. But the industry is pretty resilient and it bounced back quickly.”