The largest province in Canada, Quebec consists of more than 30,000 farms that generated nearly $8.8 billion in cash receipts in 2017. Quebec is home to the True North’s largest concentration of fruit production with more than 108,000 acres.
The total farm gate value for fruit reached nearly $230 million in 2017. The province’s top commodities include apples, cranberries, and blueberries; and on the vegetable side, carrots, radishes, beets, leeks, and green onions are top commodities.
At the heart of Quebec’s agricultural sector, the St. Lawrence River Valley is famous for its prolific apple production. In the province’s Centre-du-Quebec region, farmers grow an abundance of cranberries, strawberries, and raspberries.
The Côte-Nord region and Saguenay-Lac-St.-Jean region are hot spots for blueberry production.
George Pitsikoulis, president of Canadawide Fruit Wholesalers Inc. in Montreal, said there are many benefits to having a produce business in Quebec. For one, the province’s diverse population leads to high consumption of fresh produce.
“The per capita consumption of fresh produce has always been higher in Eastern Canada versus other parts of North America,” Pitsikoulis said.
The cultural makeup of the province’s consumers is alive with many traditions, and many of them revolve around food.
“Part of [these traditions] have always been to spend more time preparing food and eating more fresh meals,” he said.
Pitsikoulis said business has increased for Canadawide over the last year.
“Business is good,” he said. “We’re certainly in the right industry; we keep hearing fresh produce is the best part of our diet to increase.”
The vast majority of Canada’s fruits and vegetables are grown in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, with a small portion coming from Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island (PEI).
Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia account for nearly 90 percent of total vegetable cultivated area and approximately two-thirds of total fruit cultivation, according to Statistics Canada.
This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full supplement.
