fresh facts oct/nov 2013

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Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association

Newsletter #291Oct. - Nov. 2013

Volume 28, Number 8

Fresh Facts

Inside this issue:

Membership News 2

OFFMA Members

Shine at Awards

Ceremony

3

ACE Incubator

offers a hand to

Food Artisans

4

A Fresh Experience

at Leisure Farms6

Got a question?

Ask the member-

ship.

7

Upcoming

Events8

Providing knowledge and leadership to grow the farm fresh experience.

Presidents Message

Wow, another summer just flew by. Like many of you, we are frantically working on our fall ac-

tivities. Our customers have come to expect something new every year, but that something

new may be a new coat of paint or rebuilding an old attraction that is getting tired.

We all need to take a close look at our properties for safety concerns but also have a critical

look with the view as a first time visitor. You might have a trusted friend who will give you an

honest opinion or better yet have another OFFMA member look at your property. The mem-

bership of OFFMA is full of experts who can analyze and review on-farm markets. They have

honed these skills by participating on the annual bus tours.

This years tour is another not to be missed, California here we come! I find these tours one of

the best benefits of membership. They also give you something to look forward to through the

fall, puts a short deadline on the fall cleanup and gives a needed break before the Christmas

season. At this point, the tour is sold out but the OFFMA office has started a waiting list. Get

your name on it if you are considering joining us.

I wish you all a warm sunny fall and hope to see you on the bus in California.

Brian Hugli, OFFMA President

OFFMA has been working with FoodlandOntario to create merchandise that will in-crease the sale of Ontario grown productsthrough on-farm markets, CSAs and PYOoperations.This is a copy of the third recipe bookletthat was distributed to OFFMA membersthis year. It was full of delicious fall recipes.Booklets were also created with spring reci-

pes and summer recipes.What do you think? Were you able to makeuse of the booklets? Did we send too muchor not enough? Is there some other type ofmaterial that you feel would be more benefi-cial? We are planning for 2014, let the of-fice know your thoughts. We want to makesure anything we do has the best impact for

your business.


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Page 3Newsletter #291

ThePremier'sAwardforAgriFoodInnovaon

Excellencerecognizesinnovaonsthatimprove

exisngproducts,createjobsanddriveeco

nomicgrowth.Eachyear,severalmembersare

recognizedattheRegionallevelandthisyeartwomembersmadeittothetop.

MonforteDairy Straord(PerthCounty)

In2008,whenrentatMonforteDairy'sexisng

locaonskyrocketed,

RuthKlahsen,anar

sanalcheesemaker

facedthechallengeof

securingenoughmoney

tobuildanewfacility.

SoMonforteturnedto

itsbiggestbelievers its

customers.

Itsoldsharesindenomi

naonsof$200,$500

and$1,000,redeemable

incheese.Whilemany

farmershaveturnedto

communitysupported

agriculturetofinance

theiroperaons,thisis

thefirst methemodelhadbeenaempted

byanOntariofoodprocessor.

Monfortecustomerscamethrough,purchasing

nearly900sharestotalingmorethan$400,000.Themoneyhelpedpayforoneandahalfof

landinStraordandabrandnew,environmen

tallysustainablecheesemakingplant.

Thisyear,Monforteisontargettoreach$2

millioninsales,withthehelpofcheeseaficio

nadosdeterminedtokeeptheirfavouritepro

ducerinbusiness.

EarlierinOctober,MonforteDairywasnamed

winnerofthePremierAwardfor2013.The

prizemoneyis$75,000whichRuthindicated

wouldbeusedtostartacheesemakersschool

inStraord.

GeissbergerFarmhouseCiderInc. Hampton

(DurhamRegion)

Whenthenightsget

cooler,theleavesstart

toturnandapplesweighdownthe

branchesinorchards

acrosstheprovince,

theGeissbergers'mo

bilecidermillhitsthe

road.

Thefirstofitskindin

Ontario,thiscider

pressonwheelstrav

elstotheapples,ra

therthantheother

wayround.Withtop

ofthelinetechnology

andcomputerizedpressingequipment,the

customizedtrailercanprocess500litresof

cideranhour.

AndbecausetheGeissbergersusebaginbox

packagingthatkeepstheciderfreshforafull

year,growerscanpressalltheirapplesatthe

peakoftheirflavour,ratherthanstoring

someforlaterprocessing.

Italladdsuptofewercostsforproducers

andtaserciderfortheircustomers.

GeissbergerswonOFFMAsinauguralFood

InnovaonAwardinFebruary,soitwasveryexcingtoseethemberecognizedwiththe

LeadersinInnovaonAward.Thiswasthe

second me,theGeissbergershadapplied

forthisaward.

Fiy regional award winners will be an-

nounced later this fall. Each will receive

$5,000. If you are interested in applying for

this award, check out

hp://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/

premier_award/ or keep your eyes on this

newsleer. More informaon will be availa-

ble later this year.

OFFMAMembersshineatAwardsCeremony

Garry and Gord Geissberger with Premier

Kathleen Wynne.

Ruth Klahsen standing proud with

her cheese.

TODS Program ReviewThe Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport and the Ministry of Transportation have initiat-ed a review of the Tourism-Oriented Directional Signing (TODS) program.They are seeking your feedback on the TODS program in order to continually improve theeffectiveness of the highway signing programs. The ministry is interested in receivingfeedback from all tourism stakeholders, including current participants as well as stake-holders who are not currently participating in the TODS program.Take a few minutes to complete the TODS Program Review Survey by October 31, 2013 athttps://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TODSReview


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Fresh FactsPage 6

One of the farms, I visited on my recent

trip to see Ontario Farm Fresh members in

North Eastern Ontario, was Leisure Farms.

Located west of North Bay and nestled

between Sturgeon River and Lake Nipis-

sing, it is situated on some fine farm land

that benefits from the temperature moder-

ation of being between two bodies of wa-

ter. You can understand why it might becalled Leisure Farms as it is an area

where you will find nearby cottages and

temptations to

relax and maybe

do a little fishing.

The busy and

hard-working

DesChatelets

Family, Mike, Di-

ane & Mitch, cre-ate the Leisure

for their custom-

ers. For over 30

years Mike and

Diane have been

growing strawber-

ries, raspberries,

sweet corn,

pumpkins, and

building their business. Their son Mitch,

now manages the farm.

What strikes you about this successful

farm marketing operation is its diversity

and maybe thats a result of being located

in a more remote location with less popu-

lation. Leisure Farms offers a wide variety

of fresh experiences as one of the larg-

est pick-your-own operations in Ontario,

an on-farm market with a bake shop and

certified kitchen, school tours, barbecue

picnics, childrens playground, and week-

end fall festivities such as wagon rides to

the bush for a marshmallow roast, a

haunted barn, corn maze and straw

maze, and corporate events and even a

few weddings.

Leisure Farms continues to attract people

through use of advertising in all media

newspapers, radio, and television. De-

pending on the time of the year and what

activities are taking place, some advertis-

ing is more helpful than others. For in-

stance, they make great use of social me-dia such as Facebook and You Tube, es-

pecially during their Pumpkin festivities

A Fresh Experience At Leisure FarmsBy Gary Johnson, OFFMA Membership Coordinator

Mike, Diane and Mitch DesChatelets

Bake shop and certified kitchen


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fresh facts oct/nov 2013

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