Support for B.C. tree fruit growers

• The Okanagan tree fruit industry is a vital part of our food system and a part of B.C.’s heritage that all British Columbians are proud of.
• Over the last dozen years B.C. tree fruit growers have received more than $120 million from the provincial and federal governments in response to weather-related losses and income stability programs.
• The industry has also received more than $30 million in other funding, including the B.C. Government’s $2-million replant program that runs until December 2014.  
• A 2012 investment of almost $2.7 million from the federal and B.C. governments is helping the Okanagan Tree Fruit Cooperative (OTFC) modernize their packinghouse and storage facilities to enhance returns to growers.
• In January 2013, the B.C. government announced that the scope of that replant program was expanding to allow growers to replant with different types of fruit trees.  This is something the BC Fruit Growers Association asked for, and the B.C. government delivered on it.
• The change is further evidence of the B.C. government’s commitment to promote the growth and production of high-value, high-quality B.C. fruit, and help develop a stronger, more sustainable tree fruit sector that results in growers earning more dollars.
• B.C. apple growers have focussed on a “right variety, right size, right grade” strategy in recent years to serve high-value fruit markets with apple varieties that thrive in B.C.’s climate.
• Consumers naturally associate premium apples like Ambrosias with B.C. orchards. As more premium apples are grown, so too will their place in the marketplace in B.C., other Canadian provinces and abroad.
• Focussing on high value B.C. products like Ambrosia and Gala apples are key to growing the B.C. government’s agrifoods industry to a $14 billion dollar a year industry by 2017.