The Gala Event

I have probably been buying apples from Scotian Gold forever….well, certainly since Jan 01/08. They are based in Nova Scotia, and Nova Scotia is known for their great apples. This year I found a new item..their Apple Snack. A prepared bag of sliced Gala apples in a resealable bag….that lasts for a few weeks.

The other night, a few ladies were over, and I just had to show them this tasty new item. I passed the bag around…so pleased with myself. And then I heard one lady say quietly…..” they are from Chile”…..I looked at her, and smiled, knowing she was joking….but no….she turned the bag over …and there in bold letters “product of Chile”.

It really is funny if you know me. But a bit annoying to keep finding little (big) errors in my purchases. To be honest….I don’t think I turned this bag over. I previously had checked their bag of apples…all products of NS. They grow apples …they are known for their apples. So an apple producing company would use their local apples. Right?

I checked their website…
http://www.scotiangold.com/

This is what they say about their business;

"We are a producer-owned apple cooperative helping to maximize our growers' yields and revenues. Through our 55 committed growers, we have over 2500 acres of apple production across the fertile Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia's agricultural centre."

Their website is amazing. Lots of information. I particularly like the page about apple varieties….what ones to eat fresh or use for baking.

There is a small article about the snacking apple…no mention of it being a Gala apple from Chile.

Am I missing something here?

So…I sent an email to them asking why they use apples from Chile. This is their response;

“Scotian Gold is a grower owned cooperative and we store, pack and ship the apples produced by over 50 local orchards. Our Scotian Gold Apple Snacks are a healthy snack option and we use the Royal Gala apple variety to provide our customers with a sweet and crunchy eating experience. At this point, there are not enough Royal Gala apples grown locally to supply our production, so we follow the Gala crops from one growing area to another. We move from Nova Scotian product, to other areas of Canada, to USA to Chilean. This time of year, the newest crop comes out of Chile and we bring them direct from Chile to our processing facility in Coldbrook, Nova Scotia. The apples are graded, sliced and packaged in our plant by local labor. Our growers are investing in replanting programs in their orchards to produce more Galas for Scotian Gold. Tree fruit takes 3-5 years to come into production, so we will start to see the increased local supply in the next few years.”

So….why not use a local grown variety which is currently available?

Again….am I missing something here?