The province of Ontario sits between the Great Lakes to the south and the Hudson Bay to the north. Though the province is well known for its robust greenhouse operations, it is the strength and variety of physical features that set Ontario apart, sources tell The Packer.
“Ontario field-grown produce is unique in Canadian agriculture due to its combination of fertile soil, favorable climate and crop diversity,” says OPDI — short for Ontario Potato Distribution Inc. — an Alliston-based potato grower, packer and shipper.
Ontario has the distinction of containing the vast majority of Canada’s organic order of soil according to the Canadian System of Soil Classification in the northern portion of the province. In the south, nearest the Great Lakes, the land is widely categorized as excellent for agriculture.
“The province’s farmland, especially in regions like the Holland Marsh and Niagara Peninsula, provides ideal growing conditions for a wide variety of fruits and vegetables,” says OPDI.
For Gwillimdale Farms, a Bradford-based grower, packer and shipper of root vegetables, soil is near and dear to everything it does.
“Field-grown produce benefits from natural elements like sunlight, rainfall, and Ontario’s mineral-rich earth, which we believe contribute to both the flavor and nutritional quality of our vegetables,” says Courtney Walker, marketing and communications manager for Gwillimdale Farms. “The land is more than where we grow; it’s a vital part of what makes our produce exceptional.”
But the soil is not Ontario’s only unique feature.
“Ontario’s temperate climate and proximity to the Great Lakes contribute to a longer growing season, allowing the cultivation of crops not easily grown in other parts of Canada,” OPDI notes.
The variety in the weather across the province, both east to west and north to south, also allows for a variety of crops across different growing times, according to Sara Woods, vice president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
“Some of the things that now can be grown and are growing really well our sweet potatoes, watermelon, ginseng, and hazelnuts have become a really big thing,” Woods says. “We’re also seeing producers having really good luck with Asian greens like bok choy and napa cabbage. And that’s great, because of the diversity in Ontario and across Canada, being able to grow diverse crops is wonderful.”
Tariff Troubles and Other Challenges
The diversity of Ontario’s field-grown produce is a benefit to the province’s growers, particularly as the U.S. tariffs and related uncertainty have forced them to look for new markets. While this has hit Ontario greenhouse growers particularly hard, Woods said that the uncertainty of off-again, on-again tariffs from the U.S. has also hit field-grown produce growers.
“The sector is working on where to pivot to accommodate things and that’s why there’s more and different field crops being grown,” Woods says. “Just finding a market has become a bit of a challenge because we’ve always worked really tightly with the states and a large part of our processing happens in the states.”
This has involved both trying to increase processing capacity there at home in Ontario as well as finding other markets for Ontario produce.
“How can we pivot and make changes and make sure that we can, if there isn’t a market stateside, is there a market in another country? Is there a market here in Ontario?” Woods says. “So, we’re really working with our Home Grown campaign to let people know where they can get those fresh fruits and vegetables.”
But establishing new markets or building up domestic markets takes time. The uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs is a pressing challenge now.
“It’s a challenge, but we are making the best of it,” Woods says. “It’s day by day.”
Aside from tariffs, Ontario field-grown produce growers face the same sort of farming challenges as produce growers in the U.S.: increasingly unpredictable weather, ever-increasing regulations, supply chain disruptions, inputs and shipping costs, and — the biggest perennial obstacle — labor.
“One of the never-ending obstacles for every horticulture producer is labor and the cost of it,” says Jim Veri of Exeter Produce, a diversified grower, packer and shipper of fresh produce based in its namesake of Exeter. “The supply of labor continues to go down and the cost of it continues to go up.”
Technology: The Way of the Future
Automation is about the only thing that a grower can do to keep up with the supply and cost issues that surround labor, Veri says. That technology is capital-intensive, but it has been worth it for Exeter.
“We put in a computerized pepper line a number of years ago,” Veri explains, calling it a big deal. That system, which the company later duplicated on its green beans program, included a 12-camera system that took a picture of each pepper 12 times in a second. He said that the automated systems not only improved the consistency of the products they were packing, but also the grading quality over time.
“We’ve just now replaced that with a 40-camera complete AI system. It actually grades the pepper. It takes out things people miss or can’t see, and it doesn’t get tired after grading peppers for six to 12 hours. We’re installing that as we speak and we’re pretty excited about that,” he told The Packer in mid-June. “The 12-camera system was pretty cool, but the 40-camera system is going to really be a major step up.”
Veri says the grading side of the fresh produce industry is where the biggest impact of automation technology is likely possible since so much of fresh produce must be hand-harvested. Still, Exeter has embraced technology in the field as much as is feasible, using robotic transplanters and robotic weeders. The company also recently had an automated bin washer built that is mobile so it can be moved around to different locations as needed.
“Before we send a bin out to the field for product to be picked and put in there, it goes through the bin washer,” he says. “That’s quite a good one.”
Other Ontario growers have also turned to technology to help overcome the more every-day obstacles of farming. To help manage issues like supply chain disruptions and product cost fluctuations, OPDI has recently invested in better storage solutions. Gwillimdale Farms too has invested in storage to deal with issues facing the area.
“One common challenge across Ontario is the limited availability of local white potatoes in the spring,” Walker says. “At Gwillimdale Farms, we’ve addressed this by investing in advanced storage technology that allows us to maintain the quality, freshness, and supply of Ontario-grown white potatoes year-round. Our storage capabilities not only meet demand during the off-season but also support the launch of new product offerings — ensuring consistency for our customers even when local supply is typically scarce.”
High- and Low-Tech Strategies to Sustainability
Ontario producers are also adopting technology to become more sustainable. Beyond strategies like shifting to more sustainable packaging or precision irrigation strategies, big technological investments help with reducing food waste.
For Exeter, technology to improve shelf life and cater to the needs of their mostly retail customers is a big focus that resulted in big investments.
“Everywhere that we have a packaged product, it’s temperature controlled,” Veri explains. This includes their packaged beans and peppers. Once the harvested produce hits the precooler, “it doesn’t leave the cold chain until the retailer decides what to do with it,” Veri says. “When you talk about shelf life, that’s a pretty big deal.”
Other shelf life-extending efforts Exeter has underway include using ethylene gas scrubbing technology in all of its refrigerated rooms, and ethylene absorbing packaging materials. The company is also sustainability focused when it comes to food safety.
“We don’t use chlorine or any of the other chemical additives to kill bacteria,” Veri explains. “We put ozone generators in wherever we wash product. Ozone will kill 99.9% of bacteria and it goes inert when it hits the air. It’s far safer for people and far safer for the product. It’s a winner in my opinion.”
But reducing food waste — or putting inevitable waste to beneficial use — doesn’t have to be high tech. It can be as simple as making local connections. Exeter partners with a local pork producer who has a biodigester. Veri explained that for biodigesters to work, there needs to be organic matter in the mix, not just the manure.
“We give him all of our waste organic matter — so, the culls of our vegetables like the waste beans, the waste peppers, the waste cabbage, the waste rutabaga trimmings — and they get fed into the biodigester along with the manure,” he says. The relationship goes full circle since the pork producer sends back the inert organic matter that comes out of the digester and Exeter spreads that on its fields to help build organic matter in the soil.
Gwillimdale has also leveraged the power of relationships in its efforts to be more sustainable.
“The company is expanding its farm-to-table partnerships, rolling out seasonal product campaigns, and developing educational initiatives for schools,” says Walker. “All of these efforts are grounded in Gwillimdale’s continued focus on sustainable farming practices that reduce environmental impact and promote long-term agricultural health. These initiatives represent a strategic investment in the future — strengthening the Gwillimdale brand and supporting its continued growth across Canada and beyond.”
Sustaining the Future of Ontario Field-Grown Produce
A key part of sustainability is the ability to keep growing into the future. This is on the minds of Ontario field-grown produce growers as much as it is for U.S. growers.
“The other benefit of the Home Grown campaign is it shows how development can impact in the future our ability to raise enough food to provide for our food sovereignty,” says Woods. She points out that Ontario loses an average of 319 acres of productive farmland every day.
“We’re not opposed to development, and we strongly believe that everyone deserves to have a place to call home, but [the campaign is] making sure that we have good planning and processes in place because farmland — once it’s gone — can’t produce food anymore,” Woods says.
Both Gwillimdale and Exeter are looking to the future of their operations with rebranding efforts this year. For Gwillimdale, the rebranding includes the introduction of eco-friendly packaging, a new website and a focus on social media to share its story with the community and building stronger connections with both retailers and consumers.
Exeter’s rebrand of its Veri Fine label will celebrate the company’s 75 years in business. Veri says the rebrand will be particularly noticeable in the company’s packaged products, like its specialty peppers, something that has been expanding in recent years.
“With the sweet peppers, we’ve probably expanded by 50% and we’ve also expanded that packaging,” Veri says. He explains they have packaged rainbow peppers, club packs of green peppers in bags, and 13 different variety of hot peppers packed in clamshells. “That’s been a big focus when you look at where the company is going,” he adds.
But the company — currently in its fourth generation — has a fifth generation to look forward to, and Veri says they enjoy the business.
“I think the average age of a farmer in Ontario is getting close to 60 years old,” he says, noting that the loss of farmland in Ontario often happens because there’s no one who wants to take over the farm. “It’s really nice to have a next generation lining up.”
While the setting of Ontario is unique, many of the concerns, obstacles and approaches to field-grown produce are not.
“Ontario farmers are just like farmers in the U.S.; we love what we do, and we just want to make sure that you have safe, affordable, and sustainable food on your table,” Woods says. “Whatever we raise, we would feed to our families just like we’re feeding your families.”
