More than one million tons of produce and horticultural products pass through the Ontario Food Terminal annually, making it "one of the largest wholesale produce distribution centres in Canada and the third-largest in North America," the Produce News reports. So when an opportunity came for the publication to get a sneak peak at what happens behind the scenes, they were eager to chronicle the tour.
The resulting story is one that accounts how the terminal, easily viewable when driving on the Gardiner Expressway, operates. The terminal consists of 21 warehouse tenants and a four-acre farmer's market comprised of Ontario growers, which is open to the 5,000 registered buyers but not to the public. It is open every day, but Sundays are the busiest, receiving "roughly 600-850 pallets and an average of 25 tractor-trailer loads in a 12-hour period."
The terminal supports, "local farmers, local fruit and vegetable stores, independent and chain supermarkets, retailers, restauranteurs, foodservice, caterers, farmers’ markets, farm gate markets, florists, garden centres, landscapers, convenience stores and institutions," according to its
website.
The Produce News provides an overview of the terminal's operations:
"Since 1954, the Ontario Food Terminal has been located in the Toronto district of Etobicoke. The distribution center boasts a central cold-storage area that includes 19 rooms with temperatures set from 32-45 degrees Fahrenheit. The rooms are set individually to meet the storage needs of a variety of commodities from carrots to tomatoes. There is approximately 100,000 square feet of storage available in the coolers. Some of the new portions of the building have racking systems available in the cold-storage rooms."
The terminal is closed to the public, but it does occasionally have open houses according to its website, though no upcoming dates are listed.
Read the full story
here.
Original Source: The Produce News