By Myrna Stark Leader
Apples are one of the most nutritious, affordable, accessible and high-quality fruits grown in Canada. Nearly every apple you pick up in the grocery store is flawless – uniform in size, colour, shape and blemish free. While every commercial apple grown can’t be perfect, consumers experience quality apples as “normal” due to grower care, agricultural science and technology. Most Canadian apples journey from tree to store through a packing facility. Contrary to the “packing house” name, whether privately-owned or set up as a cooperative, these facilities do more than pack your apples.
Sorted and washed
Harvested apples arrive at the processing facility in standard wooden or plastic crates, which hold 360 to 455 kilograms of apples.
Even a small bump can create a brown spot on the flesh inside even if the apple doesn’t look bruised. Crates are lifted mechanically, then lowered into a water bath. Apples gently float into the wash protecting them from bruising outside and inside.
Water jets and gentle brushes remove debris like leaves, as well as any residue such as dust, germs or traces of pesticide or fungicide which protect the fruit during growing. Some facilities may add food-grade detergents. (Health Canada and specific product labels state the exact amount of time required between application of herbicides and anti-pest products and when apples can be harvested to ensure food safety, typically between seven and 30 days.)
Waxed for preservation and look
When picked from the tree, an apple has a natural wax that makes it shine when you buff it. Washing removes this so it’s added back by lightly spraying on a thin food-safe wax. The wax can come from natural sources like carnauba, a plant-based wax, or a more synthetic product. Wax seals in moisture, helping the apple to keep longer, maintaining that fresh crispiness. The coating also makes apples glossy, something consumers prefer.
Defect scan by an electronic eye
Apples move very quickly through a high-tech optical scanner like the one at Okanagan Sunshine Fruit Packers Ltd. in Kelowna, BC. The machine takes hundreds of images of each apple, checking both outside and inside the fruit.
The scanner is searching for apples that don’t meet quality standards; things like rotting on the inside by the apple core or browning on the apple surface near the stem.
The machines use special software to analyse the fruit, along with standards set by the packing facility’s operator. More accurate than any human trying to sort manually, it can process thousands of apples per hour, ensuring only the best-quality fruit reaches consumers. Someone is still required to monitor the machine’s actions, while another person continually inspects samples of apples that have come through the optical scanner, as a quality control check.
Grading and sorting
Only one variety of apple is packed at a time. The electronic eye determines the apple’s size and grade, sorting them into groups. Different buyers/retailers have specific orders.
Canadian apples usually meet one of three grades or quality standards. Canada Extra Fancy apples have exceptional color, uniform shape, minimal imperfections, smooth skin, are firm with well-developed coloring and free from bruising, scabbing or any hail pock mark damage. These are premium apples: the best ones grown.
Canada Fancy apples are still good but have slight imperfections, like not meeting Canada Extra Fancy size, colour or taste standards. These are often the apples you see in a bag of apples in the grocery store.
Canada Commercial grade apples have more noticeable issues like bruising or minor deformities, typically becoming juice, pie or apple sauce apples.
Grading standards are set by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for consistent quality and appearance whether the apple stays in Canada or is exported. In 2022, approximately 6% of Canadian-grown apples were exported, and more than half of those went to the U.S. (source: Agriculture and Agrifood Canada)
At the packing house, most apples receive a small sticker on them. It shows where the apple is being sold and can be helpful in tracing on the off-chance there is any food safety question.
Packing them how consumers want to shop
Packaging apples depends on where they are headed. High-quality apples are typically packed in trays to prevent bruising during transport. These are the apples you are likely to see displayed in the grocery produce section. Other apples are packed in bags, either by an automated bagging machine or by people.
Special storage for some apples
Without special storage, Canadians could only enjoy fresh apples in the fall and early winter right after they are harvested. While some apples go directly to market, many packing houses have controlled-atmosphere storage facilities. By reducing the oxygen in these climate-controlled rooms, apples go into near dormancy, preventing them from ripening. By controlling the temperature and humidity, apples don’t dehydrate. Then when the apples are ready for market, they are removed from storage and the ripening process restarts.
Distribution to a store near you
Packing plant employees oversee loading transport trucks fitted with temperature and humidity controls to maintain the apples’ quality as they head to a supermarket.
Canadians love fresh apples, eating about eight kilograms per person per year in 2024.
