Photo by Ronda Payne
Loren and Corinne Taves
Loren and Corinne Taves have a passion for apple farming, and make a mighty fine apple cider as well.
Loren Taves will tell you, you can’t possibly run a U-pick apple orchard without having a cider mill as well.
They go hand-in-hand, like U-pick pumpkins, petting zoos, corn mazes, specialty vegetables and a wide range of agri-tourism style activities that Taves, his wife Corinne and their eight children bring to life each late summer and fall at Taves Family Farms in Abbotsford, near the U.S. border.
Farming is the core of this family. They’ve been at it for three generations in the south Fraser Valley and as is the case for most farmers, to the Taves, it’s more than an occupation, it’s a passion.
“I just love growing food,” he says. “Crops, nature, growing things. I love it.”
Many people may be surprised at the Taves' ability to grow high quality apples in the Fraser Valley, but they have nine varieties on a 12 acre orchard which include: Janagold (the premier apple in the orchard), Honeycrisp, Gravenstein, Spartan, Ambrosia, Alkmene, Fuji, Gala and Elstar. Many have struggled to grow apples successfully in the Lower Mainland, but Taves has proven it can be done. In fact, the family has done so for more than 25 years and recently planted a few more acres.
Most varieties are available as U-pick, but some are only offered for purchase on-site at the Applebarn Country Store.
When visitors come to U-pick apples, there are always some that don’t fit their desires. Taves strategically places bins throughout the alleys and at the grading station for the slightly bruised, wrong variety, “kids shouldn’t have picked that one” and pock-marked apples that he later uses to make apple cider. It’s a win-win when visitors get the apples they want while providing the apples for the next batch of cider.
What began as a by-product of having a U-pick apple operation grew to have its own following.
With the help of Summer Dhillon’s marketing expertise, the Taves have been getting the word out about what they do, how they do it and why it’s important. They’ve also been creating new products they hope will be popular in retail markets, much like the Taves Applebarn pure apple cider, which has been well received in a variety of locations.
A pair of grants through Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC (IAFBC) have helped get ideas from the orchard to market shelves. The first grant, in 2015, helped to expand the reach for Taves Applebarn Cider, which is made only from cold-pressed apples. No sugar, no additives, nothing but the apples from the farm. It’s a non-alcoholic apple cider that tastes like what it is: pure apple juices.
Dhillon notes it’s the quality of the apples that makes the cider taste so good and adds that each year the taste will vary slightly depending upon growing conditions and yields of various apples. Overall, though, she says the taste is quite consistent.
“It’s hard to say when the idea to make cider began, as cider has been made by the Taves for some time,” Dhillon says. “In fact, originally in the early 1990s, a hand-cranking machine was used.”
Inside the Applebarn Country Store visitors can watch the cold pressing and pick up a bottle of the freshly made cider along with a variety of other items sold in the store. In-season vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant along with more unique offerings like cucamelons, josta berries, mini cukes and currants are available along with honey products, baked goods, preserves, pickles and whatever else fits.
“They can get a bottle that was just pressed an hour before,” Taves explains of the cider.
The country store closes for the season on November 1 each year, yet those who tried the cider wanted it year-round. Demand grew and local retailers like select IGA and Save-On-Foods locations started carrying it.
“The store managers have mentioned that they are interested in carrying more products once we make them available,” notes Dhillon.
Knowing the cider is so well received, the Taves plan to expand and possibly purchase more land and grow larger orchards.”
Which leads to the second grant, which will help create another specialty apple cider and other apple products intended for sale at both the Applebarn Country Store and through retailers. These products will be items that can easily be supplied to retailers such as those in jars, bottles or other semi-durable packaging.
“We’re working on a gooseberry cider,” Taves notes.
“Because the cider is so good for everyone, we want to provide as much of it as we can for as many people as possible,” Dhillon adds.
The new flavour is a natural fit given the apples and both red and green gooseberries are grown on the farm.
The IAFBC grants help make product development possible when costs are high in the trial stages.
“It helps supply the beginning capital you need to get started,” Taves says. “Quite a few products aren’t economical to make when they are small quantity products but this helps with that. It certainly doesn’t cover all the costs, but it helps with a hurdle to creating products that might take off and become mainstream.”
Dhillon sees great potential for others wanting to establish apple orchards in the Fraser Valley due to the mostly unrealized apple-suitable climate.
“With the Taves being first-to-market, it flattens the learning curve for farmers that might be interested in growing orchards,” Dhillon says. “Loren Taves is so friendly and helpful, he will assist anyone looking to get in.”
The Taves are already seeing support of their operation and for their products by a variety of organization like Abbotsford Tourism that coordinates events and activities like Circle Farm Tours and press trips.
Dhillon believes establishing the Fraser Valley as an apple destination will create more critical mass as has been seen with the growing wine industry in the area. ■