B.C. cherry farmers say their American counterparts are flooding the market with their underpriced fruit and it’s killing their profits.
Glen Lucas, the general manager of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association, said they received desperate calls from growers a week to 10 days ago, saying this season’s crop was a wash, with American cherries coming into the province later than usual and being sold off at retailers at bottom-rung prices.
That means when B.C. growers move to sell their product, the price they’re being offered from retailers only covers paying packers and pickers.
“There’s nothing left over,” Lucas said.
“So the grower is basically doing the job for free. All the fertilizer, the water, their time and effort with pruning and planting the trees in the first place, there’s no return for that — zero.”
Lucas said he hasn’t seen anything like it before. It’s not a matter of the fruit ripening later in the season and the fruits coming in later, it’s simply old American fruit being dumped in the B.C. market at a low cost and retailers taking the bait.
“It’s just this backlog trying to clear the system and the retailers seem to be supporting some of that poor quality product being displayed and we really feel there’s not a place for that,” he said.
It’s not just poor form, it’s a trade issue, he said.
“Selling an imported product below cost to production is not legal under the free trade agreement and so we could see some trade action on that,” he said.
“We don’t want to go that way. We would just like the market to clean itself up and for that unfair trade practice to stop.”
Lucas said the growers’ association has been in contact with Agriculture Canada and asking for support with monitoring the pricing situation.
It was three to four weeks ago that the “dramatic fall” in pricing began to raise eyebrows but Lucas said that a week to 10 days ago “desperate calls from growers” about the rock-bottom pricing started to roll in.
“We’re not getting the right price we need to cover expenses,” said Parmjeet Dhaliwal, owner of Sunview Market in Oliver.
Another South Okanagan grower has seen the same thing.
“There are some issues with pricing and sales because of the California and Washington cherries that dumped the market,” Beantjit Chahal, owner of Nature’s Basket in Oliver, told Global Okanagan late last week.
“That’s why even I checked the packing house (last Thursday); cherry prices are really low. I’m a little bit worried about the people who only have cherry orchards. You need mix orchards because there’s not enough money.”
Meanwhile, there are many varieties of fresh-picked cherries already on the market across the South Okanagan.
While they await more information from government trade officials, Lucas is making a plea to consumers.
“Make sure you’re buying quality fruit, and right at this time of year it’s likely to be B.C., so that helps our growers,” he said.
“But make sure you’re buying quality fruit, with the stems that are nice and green, the fruit is plump, it’s not damaged. I think that’s the biggest help for the industry right at this time.”
Lucas also said he thinks the market will rebound with a little time, though the early-season growers are in trouble.
Global News has reached out to Agriculture and Agrifood Canada to learn whether they’ve observed these pricing changes but had yet to hear back by publication.