Village Farms International will
celebrate its 25th year of business in 2014 and currently has over 260 acres of
greenhouses in US and Canada. According to Dirk De Jong, Regional Manager for
Village Farms Canada, Delta Divisions, the company has been operating 110 acres
of hydroponic greenhouse in British Columbia for the past 14 years. “We
grow a number of exclusive and flavorful tomato varieties here including:
Heavenly Villagio Marzano (an authentic mini san marzano tomato), Exquisite
Heirloom (a heirloom type tomato), Sinfully Sweet Campari as well as Delectable
TOV’s (tomato-on-the-vine), Juicy Beefsteak, Savory Roma, Lip Smacking’ Grape,
Mini Sensation (Cherry tomatoes), Baby Beefs”.
For De Jong himself greenhouse
growing is in his blood, born into a family of growers in the Netherlands, he
has been with the company for 14 years. And yet for De Jong even with all
this experience under his belt as a farmer he personally believes his biggest
asset to be his team of people including; growers, supervisors, and maintenance
he oversees at the Delta facility. “I have been extremely fortunate to
have a team of 3 Facility Managers and 3 growers with me for over 8
years. I am very pleased and thankful for each and every one of them
because they are awesome people who are extremely passionate about their
jobs”. De Jong continues, “We face many challenges as farmers on a
day to day basis. Plants need a lot of attention and the weather in BC can be
challenging. And so, because of this, as a team we always strive to
do better, and with this there is never a dull moment when you are a farmer”.
One of the biggest challenges for
De Jong related to Mother Nature is thankfully curtailed immensely with indoor
growing, “In protected agriculture such as the high technology hydroponic
greenhouses that we are fortunate enough to grow within, conditions such as
temperature and water are controlled”. De Jong says indoor growing also
affords the use of biological controls or what is known as Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) virtually eliminating the need for pesticides. Water is
recycled and herbicides are never used. “This makes for a very consistent
high quality product that is safe, clean, and full of flavor” says De
Jong. A testament to the safety is the facilities most recent third party
food safety audit scores where they received 100% across the board. No
wonder the company touts its sustainability platform as “Good for the Earth’
and as De Jong quickly adds, “good for me and good for you”.
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