700 acres, 80 employees | Family farm keeps abreast of new varieties, technology and marketing methods
WATERLOO, Ont. — Peter Katona reaches up into a tree, pulls off an apple and takes a big bite.
“Now, that’s a McIntosh,” he said as he enjoyed the crisp fruit.
There’s a passion for growing a good apple at Martin’s Family Fruit Farm, complemented by a drive to keep the farm sustainable for future generations.
“We see a lot of optimism in apples. It’s a good business to be in and definitely a growing business,” said Katona, marketing manager.
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Located five minutes from Waterloo’s city limits, the farm grows about 20 varieties of older types, like McIntosh, and the newly popular Ambrosia and Honey Crisp.
The farm was established in 1820, when Peter Martin left Pennsylvania to start a mixed farm on this site. Leighton Martin planted the first 100 trees in 1971.
Today, three brothers head the 700-acre operation spread across two farms. They produce about a million bushels of apples each year from their own farm and about 30 smaller farmers.
Maintaining the family connection is important, but there is a wider view for company president Kevin Martin.
“It’s the heritage and culture we grew up in. It gets passed on down through the generations,” he said.
“It’s not just what is doing right for the family, it’s what is doing right for the business and community, because a lot of people are relying on it,” he said.
His brother, Ken, is operations manager. Another brother, Steve, manages retail sales.
In total, 80 employees work in the office, fields and packing house.
Apples go from the field to the 70,000 sq. foot facility equipped with state-of-the-art grading and scanning equipment.
As they float down water-filled lanes, apples are picked over by hand for size and flaws. They also pass by computerized scanners that further sort, grade and check for external and internal imperfections.
If they don’t leave the farm in one of each day’s four transport loads, they go to a controlled atmosphere facility, so apples can be offered year round.
They ship apples to Loblaws, Costco and Walmart in Ontario. They’re packaged in four pound bags — with the three brothers pictured on the side — as well as boxes and large bins for bulk sales.
“Every retail chain has their own unique value proposition so whether it is differentiations in size or varieties or packaging types,” said Kevin Martin.
“Whatever their requirements, we try to meet them,” he said.
They also have exported apples to India, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean.
The farm started selling apples at the local farmers’ market, but things took off in the early 1980s when they got into the retail trade, which demanded more production.
The farm plans to keep expanding.
Between 60 to 80 acres are planted each year to either replace old orchards or add new acres. Ambrosia, Honey Crisp, Gala and Red Delicious apples are the most popular.
In recent years, they have switched to high density planting where new varieties are attached to posts and wires to support the high producing trees.
A new venture is a U-Pick next to the farm store.
Apples take time to reach full production, so it’s risky business to predict what might be popular five or 10 years from now. The Martin team considers consumer trends and unique qualities in new types of apples and assesses whether they can grow well in the region.
“We need to be more responsive and keep up with new varieties and the trends are going to change. You have to understand that is part of the business,” said Martin.
The main part of the business remains fresh fruit, but they try to use every apple.
Apples not suitable for the fresh market might get sold to a juicer or as ingredients for other products.
After two years of development, they launched an apple chip, which they sell to a grocery chain. So far, the dehydrated product, with no added flavours or sugar, is selling well.
Staying ahead of the curve suits Kevin Martin, who encourages the operation to use social media to promote apples. He’s as comfortable in a business suit taking calls on his iPhone as he is in jeans walking through the orchards.
“You have to look at it as a business. It is too high risk. It is too many people involved, too much money involved to look at it any other way,” he said.
The family runs on a five-year strategic plan. They’ve had challenges in the past and they need a sense of stability to guide them so they can remain profitable and keep the family firm running for the next generation of Martins.
“We are always looking for new opportunities that fit in with our mission and our vision growing for healthy communities,” he said.
“We are not doing things for the sake of doing them, but we are doing them to build a more solid, diversified enterprise that is going to be there for our community and stakeholders for the foreseeable future.”
For all their planning and ambition, their greatest challenge is the weather. The orchards are irrigated and well tended, but a hailstorm can wipe them out in five minutes.
“That is the kind of thing that can knock you in the gut and set you back,” he said.
Frost is a greater threat and they have purchased wind machines for frost protection.
“You can’t nullify the risk, but you can do things to mitigate it,” he said.
Last year, an early spring thaw, followed by a severe frost, nearly wiped out the southern Ontario apple crop. The Martins’ harvest was about 15 percent of normal. They imported apples to fill the shortfall. Even in a good year, Ontario producers supply about about 40 percent of the province’s demand.
Another threat is the farm’s proximity to the city. However, the land is classified as protected countryside for agriculture. The community is determined to protect the township as farmland and developers are discouraged from moving into the area.
Besides, the neighbours and the townsfolk like having these kinds of farms nearby and have a growing interest in buying local food.
“People like to buy local if it is available,” said Katona, whose last job was managing a non-profit, which promoted buying fresh, local food.
“It is a growing phenomenon,” he said.
“People have an affinity with locally grown stuff. They really want to make a connection and meet their farmer.”
To further promote the farm and encourage local sales, the farm holds a harvest celebration in mid October when thousands of people visit to taste the fruit and home-made goods.
