Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 08/01) - When Derrek Lutz hit the last 90 kilometres of bad road before Yellowknife, he was pretty sure somebody had played a bad joke on him -- little did he realize he was driving towards the most fruit-starved buyers he had ever seen.

"I thought I made a big mistake. It was kind of scary," said Lutz, a fruit truck driver from Summerland, B.C.

He pulled into town after heavy rains on July 28 and has seen a booming business ever since. Under the truck's inviting green canopy, buyers are greeted with a warm hello and a table full of colourful cherries, raspberries, blueberries, apricots, plums, peaches, and vegetables.

"Sales are a lot higher here -- 50 per cent higher," he added.

The company who owns the fruit trucks, Sunbest Produce Ltd. is based out of Edmonton, Alta., but the produce comes from the Okanagan. Sunbest has been sending vendors to the North for years but this is Lutz' first excursion to Yellowknife.

"It's great. I'm really surprised. I like it here," said Lutz, who added he has toured Old Town and visited the city's sights during his off-hours. He was taken aback by the size of the city and the friendly residents.

His only complaint is the price of fuel.

"I had to stop four times between Edmonton and here," he said while estimating the cost to be about $400.

"It was like a mud bog coming up here. I almost got stuck so the last 100 kilometres took me forever."

Lutz said on a busy day he is visited by as many as 300 customers.

"It never fails. Everybody comes out at once."

Sunbest sells the fruit at a wholesale cost to 19-year-old Lutz, who then retails the fruit on the road, keeping the difference as profit. He pays for a $300 business licence as well as hotel and living expenses.

"My dad owns a cherry orchard in Summerland. He sells fruit to the company. I'm pretty sure those are his cherries," said Lutz as he pointed to baskets of luscious-looking fruit.

The second-year university chemistry student has been growing and marketing fruit his whole life starting at his family's fruit stand in B.C. He hopes to use his chemistry degree to study pesticide use in the orchard industry.

Sunbest usually uses its six trucks to market its fruit in Alberta.

Lutz said the best sellers are cherries, blueberries and raspberries.

There were no raspberries on the cloth-covered table.

"Well that's the idea. I've been selling out," he said.

Since he's been in town, he's been getting another driver to bring fresh truckloads to him.

"I've sold the whole truck twice over. Next year I hope to come back," said Lutz.