OCTOBER 2024
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Processing vegetable growers are facing global headwinds
Butternut squash growers Tracy and Pete Gubbels survey their crop near Mount Brydges, Ontario, pointing out that contracted tonnage fell 60 per cent in 2024. The processing vegetable sector is vulnerable to not only climate change but overseas competition. Photos by Glenn Lowson.
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KAREN DAVIDSON Ontario’s processing vegetable growers recorded a milestone in 2023: a farmgate value of $162 million for nine crops that find a home in soups, stews and frozen foods. That figure will be in eclipse in 2024 as processors contracted fewer tons. The same trend is evident in Québec. Contracted acres in 2024 were also down for beans, sweet corn and particularly peas according to Mélanie Noël, general manager, Québec Processing Vegetable Growers. The bump coming out of the COVID pandemic reflected consumers’ refreshed view of the value of processed vegetables. But something happened in the last year that’s changed the dynamic. Take butternut squash for example. “Our contracted tonnage was down 60 per cent in 2024,” says Tracy Gubbels who farms with husband Pete
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Our contracted tonnage was down 60 per cent in 2024. ~ TRACY GUBBELS
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near Mount Brydges, Ontario. “The heads-up came in late spring from Nortera, considered North America’s leading vegetable processor. We had to make some last-minute changes on how we planted our land.” Butternut squash is a small slice of the overall processing vegetable pie. It brings in the least revenue of the processing crops in Ontario at about $1.5 million but it’s a bellwether of what happened in 2024. Contracted tons were down in cucumbers, green beans, green peas, lima beans, onions, sweet corn and tomatoes. Carrots were the only crop to increase in tons contracted. One reason is foreign competition. Despite the fact that Nortera invested in a new freezing tunnel at its Ingersoll plant in 2023, the company lost favour with some of its end-use clients. Amble down any freezer aisle at a supermarket and the story becomes clear. Frozen vegetables now have labels that say Product of Belgium, Product of France, Product of Spain, Product of Greece. Continued on page 3
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