Focusing on core business
Canton-based Red Tomato negotiates for local growers
ASHFIELD - Aaron, Brian, and Dana Clark grow apples on the same rolling hills as did their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
The fact that land Herbert Clark purchased in 1886 remains the Clark Brothers Orchard in 2007 is due to a combination of luck, skill, a helpful microclimate, and, in recent years, the same kind of cooperative marketing agreement that seeks fair prices for small Latin American producers selling bananas.
After the state's apple industry slipped at the end of the last decade, the Clarks were among several local growers who turned to a nonprofit called Red Tomato for help scouting new markets and raising consumer awareness about locally grown fruit.
From 1997 to 2002, Massachusetts lost 1,150 acres of apple-bearing land. By 2002, the most recent year of a federal census, some 384 orchards survived, down from 457 five years earlier, as struggling orchards gave way to residential developments. Last year, Massachusetts farms produced about 32 million pounds of apples worth $14.8 million. Massachusetts remains a tiny player when compared with the 5.65 billion pounds produced by Washington state growers who account for 58 percent of the nation's apple production.
"The whole industry has gone through real tough times," said Aaron Clark, 57. "You've got to find markets that are willing to pay more. The people who are surviving are finding niche mar kets."
That's where Red Tomato comes in.
Canton-based Red Tomato, founded in 1996, works with small farmers in the United States and Latin America, negotiating sufficient prices for crops to sustain family-run businesses and expanding market access, said spokeswoman Susan Futrell.
Rather than approaching stores individually, Red Tomato helps nearly three dozen fruit and vegetable growers sell their crops and handles logistics to deliver produce from farm to market.
The group promotes the fruit it represents as "born and raised here," selling produce from participating growers as "Eco Apples" in totes that bear the grower's name and tell a snippet of each orchard's story.
In 2002, Red Tomato brought in $40,500 in additional sales to the Clarks; last year, that rose to $84,000. In 2007, according to Futrell, apple sales that Red Tomato is brokering for the orchard are on track to double that figure. In addition, Clark averages a $3 per case premium when he sells the Eco Apple brand on his own. Other regional apple farmers participating in the program include such family farms as Alyson's Apple Orchard in Walpole, N.H., and Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, Conn.
Jon Clements, an extension tree-fruit specialist at the University of Massachusetts Cold Spring Orchard, said growers and Red Tomato are tapping heightened consumer demand for locally produced food.
"If you can work with the Eco Apple group and get a little more money or improve their image, that is the way to go," Clements said. "We can grow a much better apple in season than Washington. That's where the future of our apple industry is."
In recent years, the Clark brothers have also diversified their crop, moving from a few traditional apple types planted generations ago to such lucrative varieties as Macoun and Honeycrisp, which wholesales at roughly $55 per bushel, versus $24 per bushel for McIntosh.
This year, they expect to produce 40,000 bushels, slightly more than 4 million apples. One-quarter of their acreage is planted with Honeycrisp, which so far, has generated more than half the farm's revenue through sales at such stores as Whole Foods Market.
"Apple farming is a constant battle of trying to find new varieties that will bring a premium price," Clark said. "Farmers are the biggest gamblers in the world."
Even as they turn to Red Tomato to expand their markets, the Clark brothers continue to serve local sellers. On a recent morning, Aaron Clark drove 15 miles delivering just three bushels of apples to a local merchant who sells Clark Brothers fruit. He said it was "crazy" to make such a sale at $60 when a loaded trailer brings in $20,000, "but we like to do it."
Diedtra Henderson can be reached at dhenderson@globe.com. 