To others we are a magical place here in the Okanagan.  I know I have listened to the voices of others fresh in my ear.  For the last ten days I have spoken to hundreds of people at the Agribition in Regina.  It is the largest fall fair west of Ontario.

Over two hundred thousand people pass through the doors in six days.

Two things we talked about  – Ambrosia Apples and the great year – the Saskatchewan Roughriders had.  Every year we promote Ambrosia on the prairie it keeps us in close touch with  consumers.  We are always well received.

Misconceptions run both ways.  For us, many growers think we are talking to the same people every year.  There is some truth to that except, for the fact that we talk to people from all over the world.  We talked and gave samples to people from every province in the country.

We introduced new Canadians to not only Ambrosia but apples period.  True there are those who never tried a slice of an apple in their lives.  We were re-acquainted with those in hockey, as many players, and families of players eat BC apples on a regular basis.  We have the usual questions about baking, eating fresh, and storage.  The truth is it is all in the taste.  One sample and they want to know where they can buy them.

There is another side to this as well.  People who have never ventured west, or traveled anywhere have different ideas about what to expect.  Some believe it never snows in the valley bottom.  Some think of us as being high in the mountains.  I often wonder why the chambers of commerce or tourism groups don’t take in the Agribition and discover a whole new customer base.  Golfers know us, skiers know us that is true.  But there is a whole group of people that don’t know much about us.  I often wonder even in this day in age how many we miss because of misconceptions about where we live.

In many cases we are a magical place but so far away.  The fact is many of the places they go to are actually – as far – or further away.

Promoting Ambrosia apples and BC fruit is opening the door to promoting what is here in BC, and after listening to so many people describe our home province it is not hard to understand why to so many –  the Okanagan is a magical place.

 

Fred Steele