Ontario greenhouse growers pleased with strawberry programs

Strawberries continue to gain traction in the Ontario greenhouse industry traditionally known for vegetables.

Joe Spano, vice president of sales and marketing for Kingsville, Ontario-based Mucci Farms, said the company is excited about its foray into the space.

“We started from a three-acre experiment to a 12-acre commercial facility,” Spano said. “That quickly turned into a 24-acre strawberry farm ... that we will be picking from by March 15, and the contract has been signed and all the parts are being delivered right now for another 12 acres, so we’re going to be 36 acres of high-tech greenhouse strawberries for the fall of 2018.”

He does not expect Ontario will take over the strawberry business by any means, but growers in the region do believe they can carve out a niche in the Northeast.

“We think we’ve got a great fruit,” Spano said. “It’s clean compared to some of the (field) crops, very, very clean, flavor profiles are amazing, the aesthetics of the fruit is fantastic. We’re really proud of the strawberry space right now.”

Kingsville-based Del Fresco Produce has also gotten into strawberries, offering the fruit nearly year-round.

“It’s been a runaway success with the taste,” said owner and president Carl Mastronardi.

“We’ve been getting a lot of good feedback from our customers.”

The company plants in late August and continues production into June. The small gap is not a problem because Del Fresco is not overly concerned about having supply when strawberries are widely available from other regions.

Del Fresco, which grows under lights, is in its second year of integrated pest management, which has allowed for the dramatic reduction in use of sprays.

The company is experimenting to see whether it may be able to grow other types of berries as well.

Joe Sbrocchi, general manager for Leamington-based Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, said he expects companies will continue to branch out beyond the traditional vegetable crops as the costs of doing business continue to rise.

Cannabis competition

While some have branched into strawberries, others — including Village Farms in British Columbia, Les Serres Stephane Bertrand in Quebec, and Double Diamond Farms in Kingsville — are diversifying into cannabis production.

“You can’t blame growers for seeking better, more profitable (crops), and quite frankly in a lot of cases I think it’s going to wind up being a hedge more than anything else,” Sbrocchi said. “Right now, people are getting commitments of some pretty astronomical pricing, from what I understand. Exactly what that is, nobody tells you, but let’s put it this way — the conventional crops we grow in greenhouse don’t match it in terms of return.

“So if you’re a grower and you’re seeing all these (cost increases) and you’re very, very concerned, my guess is that you would look at (converting) at least some of your greenhouses, because greenhouses tend to be built individually, so you can turn over a block of greenhouses relatively easily and, even more importantly, if it doesn’t work out you can turn them back very quickly, like within a season.”

In addition to costs rising, the uncertainty around the North American Free Trade Agreement could be another factor in greenhouses looking at alternative products, even as growth in the industry continues.

“I do believe there’s a wonderful future for the greenhouse industry going forward,” Sbrocchi said. “You’re seeing it in the U.S. where more and more projects are going up there as well.

“This whole NAFTA negotiation that’s going on as it pertains to agriculture is another reason why maybe people are looking at different opportunities ... spreading your risk around just a bit, could you blame anybody for doing that?”