Photo by Tom Walker
BCCA AGM
From left to right: Beth Cavers, Program Administrator, Lindsay Hainstock, Director (BC Tree Fruits Appointee), Ravi Dhaliwal, Director, Harman Bahniwal, Director, Sukhpaul Bal, President, Graem Nelson, Secretary, Neal Vander Helm, Director, Dr. David H. Geen, Director, Erin Carlson, Treasurer.
BC cherry exports was a key topic at the annual BC Cherry Association AGM as the importance of foreign markets continues to grow.
“Export programs continue to be a major focus of what we do at the BCCA,” says president Sukhpaul Bal. “We have seen steady growth in both the China and Thailand programs, and the California program and now we have the Japan program for the first time.”
BC cherries are sold domestically, but the importance of exports has seen the most growth in recent years. The first overseas shipments began in the early 1990’s into Taiwan and Europe. Starting in 2003, BC cherries began moving into Hong Kong and subsequently into China, through the grey market. In 2013, an agreement was reached with the Chinese government allowing direct access.
China is a very important market for us,” notes Bal. Indeed, total exports of Canadian cherries to China were worth over $26.5 million in 2018, making that market the second most important for BC growers, behind only the US which bought $39 million. In 2018, 119 BC growers took part in the China program. Sixty were BC Tree Fruits Coop members and 59 were independents.
“It is important to run these export programs to the highest level as access does not mean forever, it is continually reviewed,” Bal points out. “The stronger our programs are for export markets, the better the chances are they will continue.” BC cherries went to 28 countries in 2018, for a total value of $90 million. In 2013, cherry exports totalled just over $41 million, and growers did not have full access to China at that time, so exports have more than doubled over five years.
After a successful pilot with Northern Cherries and Coral Beach Farms showing the quality of the of BC cherry industry last summer, the Japanese market is officially open for all growers to register for export this year.
BCCA continues to work for improved access to India, aiming to eliminate the present 10-day cold treatment requirements. “It has been a while since we have heard from them, but the board is in discussions to send a small delegation to India,” Bal says. “Perhaps that could show the Indian government that we are serious in wanting to ship product there. It is an important market with the growing middle class in India.”
Part of the requirements for access to overseas markets is to show the receiving country that our growers are dealing with pests of concern. The cherry fruit fly or rhagoletis, is a target species for several countries including China. Growers worry that the presence of rhagoletis in their orchard monitoring traps is a cause for concern. Not so, says Bal.
“The board has been discussing how we are hoping to change the whole culture around finding rhagoletis in traps,” says Bal, calling it a positive thing. “We can then show that we are finding these species of concern on the traps but when we are doing our brown sugar tests and inspecting the fruit, there are no larvae in those samples, and that shows our partners in China and other markets that our system is working.”
South Korea is a target market that is still developing. The market access division of CFIA has sent paper work back to South Korea on the issues that are their concerns, Bal notes. “We are waiting to hear back. I imagine in the spring we will have a conference call from CFIA to see where that sits,” he says. “We are optimistic we will gain access and we are hoping within the next couple of seasons.”
“The attraction of Korea, is a large and strong middle class,” Graem Nelson recalls, following a scouting mission there in the spring of 2018. The metropolitan area of Seoul, the capital city, has a population of 25 million people.
“I saw some mediocre cherries, likely from California on display for $80.00kg ($36.00 pound). says Nelson. “There are good air freight links, but it is further than China.”
However, unlike other Asian countries where Canada enjoys an advantage because of Trump, that is not true for Korea,” Nelson notes.
