Largest Independently
Owned Produce Wholesaler
It is the one-stop shop for all orderly marketing of fruits, vegetables and horticultural products not just in Ontario but from all over Canada. Tripti Chakravorty takes you the terminal acquaints you with the entire procedure whether you came as a buyer or a farmer.
The Ontario Food Terminal Board has been into operation since 1954 and has for 52 years owned and operated the largest wholesale fruit and produce distribution centre in Canada over a 40-acre site.
It ranks in the top five by volume in terms of wholesale fruit and produce distribution centres in North America. The terminal serves all provinces and some of the northern states.
The farmers market tenants total 450 which provide local fruits, vegetables and floral products. The 22 warehouse tenants provide imported and local fruits and vegetables from all over the world. There are over 5,000 buyers registered to purchase at the terminal. Deliveries to the tenants are accepted 24 hours per day, every day of the year to ensure buyers receive the freshest produce and horticultural products.

Buying at the Food Terminal
Buying is on a wholesale basis only and as such, the general public is not allowed on the property to buy. To register as a buyer, one is required to provide proof of business activity in the food or horticultural industry. There is a nominal fee for a two-year period.

Mandates and Objectives
The original mandate of the Board is to acquire, construct, equip and operate a produce market in the County of York and to acquire and operate such facilities for the transportation and handling of produce as may be necessary purposes of the Terminal. The Board acts as a landlord and leases land, warehouse units, offices and other facilities to farmers, wholesalers and allied services. The Board operates a cold storage facility for the use of the wholesale tenants and farmers. In addition, the Board has the following overall objectives:
•To try and ensure that the market operates efficiently in order that high quality produce can be provided to the Ontario consumer at competitive prices.
•To provide a central marketplace for Ontario growers and produce wholesalers to sell their produce directly to the wholesale and retail trade.
•To foster, through controlled buying hours and regulated shipping policies, a competitive market place where buyers and sellers can freely negotiate prices and terms of sale
•Maintain a good working relationship with the wholesale tenants, growers and buyers.
•Ensure that the market is properly maintained so that Ontario retailers and institutions will continue to use the market as a major source of supply for the fresh produce.
•Ensure that the cash flow from operations is sufficient to cover expenses including all capital and maintenance expenditures.

Market profile
The Board adopted a cost centre approach to the operation of the Terminal in 1984 through which nine cost centres were identified and allocated expenses and revenues to each of them.

SHORT-TERM LEASEHOLDERS
This area is located in the basement of the old cold storage building. Access is provided by stairs and freight elevators. This area is ideally suited for jobbers or for dry storage space. The area totals 15,808 square feet.

RESTAURANTS
Two restaurants are located within the Terminal. A large full service restaurant is located in the Farmers' Market. The restaurant seats 110 patrons. A takeout facility is located on market level for light snacks and beverages. The second restaurant is located at the southwest corner of the north B unit on dock level. This restaurant provides full meals and takeout services.

COLD STORAGE
The cold storage encompasses 80,000 square feet of cooler space on two levels; a main floor and a basement level. Access to the basement level is via freight elevators. The computers controls the correct temperature and humidity for the storage of fresh fruits and vegetables. Temperatures are computer controlled with rooms generally set at either 32o F or 42o F. Space is rented per pallet, weekly or monthly. The Board provides receiving staff and the customer staff makes the withdrawals.

Farmers’ Market
The farmers’ market has 550 stalls available for lease on either a semi-annual (January-June or July-December) or annual period (July-June). In addition, space is rented on a daily basis. All spaces are leased. The market operates on the basis that any leaseholder who wishes to occupy a stall other than the stall they lease as long as the actual leaseholder of the stall does not take occupancy. With this system, stalls are used in an efficient manner. Daily growers take occupancy of vacant stalls prior to the opening of the market.
Any grower from Ontario is allowed to occupy space in the farmers’ market section on a daily basis by paying a daily farmers’ market fee at the main security gate. Thereafter, the grower will be guided to a farmers’ market stall which can be occupied for the day. All warehouse, office, and farmers' market spaces are leased. However, the Board maintains a waiting list for such space.
Currently, there are three classifications of leaseholders. The first is a grower, who sells only produce grown on his/her farm. Second, is an Ontario dealer, who sells produce from his/her own farm and produce grown on someone else's farm. And thirdly, a Canadian dealer, who sells produce grown in Ontario as well as other parts of Canada.



Farmers' Market Stall Policy
Objectives: The Objectives of the Board when dealing with any request for the issuance of a new lease, the request for stall change, the cancellation of a lease, and the assignment of a lease are threefold:-
•To assist the Board and Management in ensuring that the issuance of a new lease, the request for stall change, the cancellation of a lease and the assignment of a lease are carried out in a manner that is known to all leaseholders. - To prevent a value being placed on a stall during an assignment.
•To ensure that all issuance, change, cancellation or assignment of a lease benefits the Ontario Food Terminal in general and the farmers’ market in particular. Policy for a Request for Stall Application: Any person wanting to lease a stall in the farmers’ market needs to fill out a stall application form and provide a Cdn$100 as a deposit. The request for stall list is maintained in the general office and is maintained on the basis of the date of application. Each applicant is required to complete his/her own application. When a stall becomes available in the area where new leaseholders are placed, management uses the request for stall list on a date of application basis to fill the open stalls. The Deposit applies against the first term rent. If an applicant wishes to be taken off the list or does not accept stalls that are offered, the deposit is forfeited as an administration fee for making the application and the name is then from the list.

Policy for request for stall change application:
Any current leaseholder wanting to change to another stall must make an application for a change. The management maintains a request for stall change list for such purpose in the general office. The leaseholder who wants to change to another stall must fill out an application for request for stall change (at no cost) and included in the application the person must indicate to which stalls they wish to relocate. The list is maintained on a date of application basis. In order to remain on the request for stall change list, the leaseholder must be a leaseholder in good standing with the board (i.e. has paid the rent or any fees charged against them etc.), must respond to requests made via letter or phone when stalls become available and the management is seeking an answer as to whether or not the applicant is interested in the stalls that are available, and must use the market a minimum of 25 days in either the current period or the previous lease period.
Whenever a stall becomes available that is in the area where a leaseholder on the request for stall change list wants to relocate to, the list is used as the basis of allocating the stall on a date of application basis. If a leaseholder when contacted turns down a stall that he/she has indicated they want to relocate to, then that leaseholder is removed from the list. Policy for the cancellation of a lease: A cancellation of a lease can be carried out in 30 days if the lessee has not met the stipulations of the lease. A lease can also be cancelled if the stall has not been occupied by the lessee for a minimum of 25 days during the period of the lease. Policy for a request by a leaseholder to assign his/her stall: Whenever a request for an assignment of stall is made by a leaseholder, the request is to be brought before the Board. The Board will review the request and make a ruling using the following policy. When a leaseholder farm or farm business is sold or passed on to an immediate member of the leaseholders family, the stall may continue to be leased by that member of the immediate family providing that the form of the lease set forth by the Board is adhered to. In the case of an assignment to an immediate family member the stall will not become available to those on the request for stall change list.
In the rare circumstances when a tenant’s farm or farm business is sold to a buyer who is not an immediate family member, the buyer may be considered by the Board as a possible tenant for the stall. However, certain qualifications will apply to the assignment. A stall cannot be sold as an asset unto itself. A stall must be part of the total sale of assets of the farm or farm business. Sale documents must be presented to the Board upon application by the tenant to the Board for the assignment of the stall to the purchaser. In such a case and upon approval of the assignment by the Board, the stall would not become available to those on the Request for Stall Change list.

Approval Process:
Approval process for a request for a stall, a request for a change in stall, a cancellation of a lease, or an assignment is possible. Management has the authority to assign stalls based on the request for a stall policy and the request for a change of stall policy if and when, in their judgment, the action falls fully within the policy approved by the Board. It also has the authority to accept cancellations and impose cancellations if and when, in their judgment, the cancellation falls within the policy approved by the Board Management is to receive direction from the Board as to any request for assignment of a lease by the Leaseholder.

Basic Structure
"A" and "B" warehouses - There are 41.24 A and B units on two separate wings surrounding a central buyers' Court. 'A' units face the buyers' court and consist of a store, (1716 sq.ft.), basement (2112 sq.ft.) and office space (320 sf). 20.39 'B' units, adjacent to the Cold Storage building, consist of a store (1331 sq.ft.) and a basement (1573 sq.ft.). Access to all units and the cold storage is achieved via a central dock system. There are 22 warehouse tenants.
Annual offices - Approximately 37,934 square feet of office space is located above the "A" units of both wings. Of this, 24,814 square feet is annual office space with the remaining space occupied by offices included in the "A" unit leases. There are 50 office tenants.
Road and gate - The areas comprising the common roadways and unassigned land constitute the road and gate cost centre. The Board maintains a main gate building which is occupied 24 hours/day/, 7 days/week. Loads are received at the gate at anytime.
Railway - The Board currently has a small track area which serves the market. The amount of track within the terminal has been reduced to reflect the diminishing demand of rail services to the terminal.
Parking - The Board operates a parking deck structure which is 4 acres in size and covers approximately one half of the Farmers' Market stalls. On this structure 575 cars are parked.

MARKET PARTICIPANTS
Farmers
Many Ontario farmers use the farmers’ market section of the terminal to distribute their produce. Farmers want to distribute their produce on a commission basis through the warehouse units. It is estimated over 120 different commodities of produce are sold in the farmers’ market ranging from specialty Chinese vegetables to apples, pears and potatoes. In addition, a growing number of bedding plants, potted plants and cut flowers are sold in the farmers' market.



Wholesale units:
These units are leased to companies who sell produce from Ontario and any other region in the world. All units are fully leased.
Buyers: The buyers who purchase at the terminal reflect the ethnic background of the Province. The majority of the buyers operate fruit and vegetable stores of sizes ranging from large independent retailers to smaller corner markets. In addition, corporate stores, restaurants, jobbers, institutional buyers, florists, peddlers and caterers purchase at the Terminal. More than 5,000 buyers are registered. Buyers must register with the Board and prove they are not the end consumer of their purchases. Produce is also shipped to out of Province buyers and to buyers in the northern states.

Service organizations:
Many varied service groups rent office space in the terminal. To serve the Terminal, such organizations as inspection offices, produce brokers, truck brokers, grower co-operatives, restaurants, buyers and a bank lease office space.

Truckers:
Independent truckers have become the primary method of transportation of produce to the terminal. Produce is brought to the terminal by truck from various regions of Canada and the United States.

Employment input:
It is estimated that over one million vehicles enter and exit the Terminal each year. The direct and indirect employment attributed to the terminal is estimated at approximately 42,000 people and could be more than that figure. The 42,000 represents 477 farmers tenants at an average of 10 people per tenant, the dealer component of the farmers’ market tenants which totals 61 in turn represent at least 10 growers (who market through the dealer versus coming to the terminal) who in turn employ at least 10 people per grower, 57 office tenants at an average of 10 people per tenant, 26 warehouse tenants at an average of 40 people per tenant, and the 6,000 buyers at an average of 5 people per registered buyer. All of these groups are co-related to the industry. These figures represent only those directly operating out of the facility and do not take into account all other growers who use the market information that is generated from the facility.

Board and Management
The Ontario Food Terminal Board consists of seven members, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, upon recommendation of the Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food. The present Board Members consist of a seven members including Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and the rest are directors. The Management Staff consists of Secretary Treasurer, Administration and Cold Storage Manager, Police and Sanitation Manager and Plant Facilities Manager.