Peak of the Market reaches new heights

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This article was published 24/02/2017 (3478 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Passionate about potatoes? Got a craving for kale or carrots?

Vegetable shoppers across western Canada can look for Peak of the Market’s yellow diamond symbol and know they’re buying Manitoba-grown produce.

“The yellow diamond is in the top three recognized trademarks in Manitoba,” said vice-president of operations at Peak of the Market Mark Zachanowich. “It’s up there with MTS and Manitoba Hydro.”

Peak of the Market supplies all the major western Canadian grocery chains, including Walmart, as well as wholesalers and food service companies. Some grocers will package the vegetables for sale under their own store brands.

Zachanowich, who lives in Headingley, joined the vegetable growers marketing co-operative about five years ago, but the non-profit has been around for over 75 years. Originally established under the Farm Products Marketing Act, Peak of the Market markets more than 120 varieties of vegetables within the province and as far west as B.C. The co-operative opened a distribution centre in Calgary in 2012 to meet increasing demand.

“We are the marketing, selling and packing arm,” Zachanowich said.

Todd Giffin, of Mayfair Farms, in Portage la Prairie said he and his family have grown vegetables for Peak of the Market for at least 35 years. They supply Spanish and yellow onions, savoy, red and green cabbage, sweet corn, cauliflower, cucumbers, pumpkins and a few types of squash.

While the Giffins directly market some of their vegetables to consumers, Giffin said having the contract with Peak of the Market helps with cash flow.

“We know the bills are being paid. The trucking is provided. It seems to take a lot off of our plates,” he said.

Manitoba vegetable growers are given a quota regulating the type and quantity of vegetables each one grows for Peak of the Market.

Between 200,000 and 250,000 pounds of vegetables are shipped on average every day but Christmas from the company’s warehouse and distribution centre at 1200 King Edward St. All of the growers’ potatoes and onions come through the Winnipeg centre after being transported from four wash plants in the country.

The Winnipeg centre’s cold storage capacity will soon expand by 50 per cent as construction is underway on an 8,000 square-foot cooler. Zachanowich said the temperature will remain close to one degree Celsius year-round with giant compressors cooling and circulating air within the huge structure.

The centre’s inspection, weighing and packaging system was also updated about three years ago. Zachanowich said Peak of the Market worked with a company in Wisconsin to design a packing line system to meet all the co-operative’s needs. It includes a metal detection device that senses any piece of metal that might have accidentally been caught in a potato or onion. A visual inspection is done by a staff member who pulls out any vegetables that are damaged or discoloured. Most of these are perfectly safe to eat, and are donated to Winnipeg Harvest.

“We donate over a million pounds of vegetables per year to Winnipeg Harvest,” Zachanowich said.

A computerized weighing system ensures that bags are filled correctly. A robot is used to stack bales on pallets and fill bins for shipping.

“The Kuka robot has an end-of-arm tool that was Canadian designed and programmed and is the only robot end-of-arm tool to have the capability to pallet pack both 50-pound master bales and 10, 15 and 20-pound individual bags in an interlocking pattern within a retail floor bin,” Zachanowich said.

Zachanowich said summer and winter squash is growing in popularity. New variety trials for squash and other vegetables are conducted on plots near Winkler.
Peak of the Market also provides grower advice on such issues as soil conditions, planting and ways to deal with pests.

“Red potatoes are our No. 1 in popularity,” Zachanowich said, beating out russet and yellow-fleshed varieties. He’s tried red potatoes grown in other parts of Canada and the U.S. but believes that the Manitoba potatoes are sweeter.

Peak of the Market also provides organic potatoes grown without the use of herbicides or pesticides.

Zachanowich credits Peak of the Market president and chief executive officer Larry McIntosh with helping to raise the co-operative’s profile over the past 23 years.

“Larry is a master marketer,” he said.

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