Reflecting on the Season: An Interview with Orchard Fruit Market

As many of our readers know, Orchard Fruit Market (OFM) is a family-run business that has proudly served the Simcoe community since 1978. As our 46th season wraps up, we officially closed our doors on October 27, 2024. Orchard Fruit Market is now taking a much-needed winter rest, and we’re excited to reopen in May 2025, feeling refreshed and energized.

During our first week of downtime, we took valuable time to reflect on another incredible season filled with fresh produce, beautiful plants, and, most importantly, the wonderful interactions we shared with our community of customers and business partners. We believe it’s essential to pause and soak in the memories we created this past season. From sharing laughs and memorable moments with our loyal customers to navigating challenges in a competitive market, 2024 was certainly a season for the books.

To wrap up this season, we’re excited to share insights from our manager, Ryan, who reflects on the highlights of 2024 and offers a sneak peek into what’s in store for Orchard Fruit Market in the future!

Our Giant Pumpkin Fall display inspired many home decorators!

Question: What were some of the highlights of the past season?

Ryan: “Some highlights of the 2024 season are that we have launched our first ever business website, with this website we hope to attract new customers, as well as providing product information to all existing and new customers. We were also a lot more active on social media as the 3 of us worked together as a team. We also brought in new products for testing and saw how customers react to them. For example, new flower varieties as well as new lineup of fruits that customers were never aware about. As a result, customers were willing to try and provide positive feedback. We also made donations to local schools as well as organizations to help people who are in need and to our local community.”

A new sweet treat this year - Summer Punch Plumcots! A mouthwatering hybrid of plums and apricots.

Question: What were the biggest challenges you encountered, and how did you overcome them?

Ryan: “Some of the challenges we encountered where some products were a bit challenging to get, which was caused by climate, some products flourished while others dwindled. We had to put extra time and effort in making sure we were well stocked as well as keeping our quality top notch. With the summer being so hot and dry, we also had to put a lot more time into making sure our selection of flowers were healthy and beautiful throughout the season.”

Extra time and water well spent on thriving garden flowers & plants for a hot summer.

Brought by popular demand, our new eye-catching gift certificates are now available.

Question: What are your goals for the upcoming year, and how do you plan to achieve them?

Ryan: “My goals for the upcoming year and year(s) to come is to keep providing and improving top quality products to our customers/local community so that they can depend on us and try our best to also provide excellent service to provide a happy/satisfying shopping experience at OFM. I hope to achieve this by taking in all positive/negative feedback that customers may have for us and keep improving. We will continue to source out the best quality products available.”

Question: Do you have any final words you'd like to share with our customers for this 46th season?

Ryan: “46 seasons is not an easy task to achieve, we at OFM are grateful for having such loyal and supportive customers over the years. We would like to thank each and every one of you for your years and years of continued support and friendship. In our retail industry, having such awesome customers/friends makes our job much more enjoyable with such friendly and respectful customers. We hope to see all of you wonderful people again in the 2025 season.”

Captured the rare sighting of the beautiful Northern Lights early October 2024.

To our amazing customers and valued business partners, we wish you and your families a safe, happy and healthy holiday season. We can't wait to connect with familiar faces and welcome new friends and neighbours again. We hope our fresh produce and vibrant garden plants continue to bring joy and vitality to your spaces for many years to come.

We want to hear from you! Please share your favourite memory from the 2024 season at Orchard Fruit Market in the comments below. Whether it was a special moment with our fresh produce, a beautiful plant that brightened your garden, or a memorable interaction with our team, we’d love to celebrate your joy together.

Thank you for being a part of the Orchard Fruit Market community! Stay tuned for updates, and we will see you all soon.