It took a lot of work but airport officials worked with local producers to get local produce featured in the Kelowna International Airport.
Kelowna’s airport is sending travellers home with a piece of the Okanagan Valley. In July, a program to provide locally grown, world class produce to people travelling through the airport was launched.
Airport Director Sam Samaddar travelled to Canada’s East coast, where he noticed the take-home lobster initiative in Halifax’s airport. Realizing what a special treat that was for travellers and local fishermen alike, he wondered how his airport could create a similar experience. “The Okanagan is an agricultural base,” he says. “Fruit seemed like an obvious way to promote the area.”
It took months of planning, but the Kelowna airport was able to partner with De Simone Farms, a local, Food Safe accredited orchard and packing and shipping company. Bonus:
This farm’s location near the airport makes transport easy — fresh fruit can be delivered as needed.
Working as a middleman with local accredited farmers, De Simone Farms packages the fruit and delivers the final products to the airport. Pierre De Simone, with the help of his father, runs the namesake company. “We’ve had positive feedback so far, which is great, because normally people are quick to complain but not very quick to give good feedback,” he says. And, according to Samaddar, “It’s been very well received.”
Special packaging was designed to help customers carry their produce purchase unbruised onto the plane. For example, a briefcase style box with individual spots for peaches was created to keep them from moving around and bruising.
“You never know what will happen when someone dumps a bag of peaches into their suitcase,” De Simone says.
B.C. fruit stands only run through the summer, when fruit is fresh and in season. But, this program has the potential to continue running through the winter and into late spring, thanks to cold storage for apples and pears.
How can your local airport or travel hub create a program like this? Samaddar said it was a complicated process that took more planning than he expected. “Give yourself lots of time, understand the regulatory environment you have to deal with and find a clever way to market your region through the program,” he says.
De Simone is confident that this program will takeoff, so to speak. “It’s a great option for travellers. Fruit is one of the best things the Okanagan has to offer.”
- Courtney Dickson