Apples have been a product of the Annapolis Valley since the early days of French settlement, but to stay competitive the industry must continue to renew itself. One bad apple shouldn’t spoil the whole bunch, and with technological upgrades those bad apples will be easier to detect.
The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board of Canada and Member of Parliament for Kings – Hants, today announced a total of $1,000,000 in repayable contributions from the Government of Canada to support technology modernization at both the Scotian Gold Cooperative Limited and Van Meekeren Farms Limited. The funding was provided through ACOA’s Business Development Program (BDP) and announced on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
A $500,000 contribution to Scotian Gold Cooperative Limited will assist with the purchase of new packing equipment to increase efficiency and productivity as the volume of apple crops continues to grow. It is essential that sorting and grading of perishable fruit is done in a timely manner. Upgrades to the Scotian Gold packing line will increase capacity by more than 50%.
Van Meekeren Farms Limited is receiving a $500,000 contribution to modernize its apple packing line with state-of-the-art equipment. This includes an optical apple sorter that will speed up the packaging process. Additionally, Internal Frequency Analysis (IFA) technology is being installed to detect the internal browning of apples. This will ensure that the highest quality product is always being produced.
Improvements are needed for the company’s apple packing line to keep up with production requirements to satisfy increased demand and to handle delicate varieties such as Honeycrisp, which are very sensitive to injuries. The equipment being acquired and installed will improve production efficiencies, while ensuring that the quality of the product is not compromised.
Source: AAFC