If ever there was a recession-proof business, it should be farming. Everyone has to eat, after all, no matter how the economy is doing.
And in the last four or five years, thanks to increasing concerns over food security, the demand for locally grown produce has risen steadily.
But when you start adding up all the disincentives that farmers in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley face, not to mention the work schedule, you begin to understand why Murray Driediger doesn't regret selling his share of the family farm.
"My father actually discouraged me from getting into the farming business," Driediger said. "He thought farming was hard work, a lot of investment with little return – and it is. I found that out the hard way.
"There are times when I do regret it, because I miss the day-to-day rewards of farming, where you can see, at the end of the day, the fruits of your labour. But I don't miss the seven days a week, and I don't miss not having any time off in the summertime."
Driediger isn't exactly out of the farming business, however. As CEO of BCfresh – a producer-owned marketing and distribution company – he's still very much in the business of agriculture.
Born and raised in Langley, Driediger grew up on a family farm that grew strawberries and raspberries for canners. Besides the farm, Driediger's father, George, owned several other businesses, including towing, transport and real estate companies. He even served two terms as mayor of Langley.
In 1979, at the age of 22, and despite his father's attempts to steer him toward one of the other family businesses, Driediger decided he wanted to be a farmer. Later he and his mother bought his father out.
Seeing an opportunity in fresh fruit, Driediger shifted the farm's focus from growing berries for canners to growing them for the retail market. One of the innovations he implemented helped cement a relationship between his farm and Thrifty Foods.
Instead of letting fruit sit in a warehouse to cool before shipping, Driediger introduced forced-air cooling, which chilled the berries much more rapidly, shortening the time between harvest and delivery and ensuring fruit lasted longer. He also made sure that, once a locally grown product was introduced to buyers, they could rely on it year after year.
"Not only does he see the advantage of moving a product through the market today, he can see the advantage of actually creating the market such that he's in business next year," said Michael Mockler, director of produce operations for Thrifty Foods.
"Murray understands the long-term benefits of keeping the pipeline full of great product. He thinks about things for immediate sale that lead to long-term business relationships that benefit the consumer and him, being the grower-shipper."
In 1997, Driediger sold his share of the farm to his sister and took six months off. He ended up landing the general manager's position at the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission. In 2007, he was hired as CEO of BC Lower Mainland Distributors Inc., which was later rebranded BCfresh.
"It's very hard to make potatoes and root vegetables sexy," Driediger said.
The organization consequently made growers its marketing focus.
"All of our advertising is built around our grower families. That was a way to reconnect today's consumer with the people who are actually producing their product. We did that right at the start of the buy-local movement, so we were able to ride that wave."
Owned by 18 Fraser Valley grower-shareholders, BCfresh handles the marketing and distribution for its owners and non-owner suppliers. Eighteen employees work out of the company's warehouse and distribution centre in Delta next to Boundary Bay Airport.
BCfresh specializes in the sale and distribution of potatoes, cabbage, onions and other root vegetables – 55,000 tonnes worth per year. It also sells another 15,000 tonnes a year of vegetables imported from other regions of Canada and the U.S. under the Bestfresh brand. B.C. accounts for 80% of its market. The rest is divided into Western Canada (15%) and the U.S. (5%).
Driediger has become an advocate for farmers in the region. Although local growers sit on some of B.C.'s best agricultural land, it's a tough business to be in. Farmland that was supposed to be protected by the agricultural land reserve has been rezoned and carved up for everything from golf courses to First Nations treaty land.
"The primary challenge right now is the lack of available land in large parcels," Driediger said. "It's making things more difficult to the farm economy."
Exchange rates have a major impact on farmers, too, and producers now face higher costs related to food safety, thanks to a number of fatal food poisoning incidents in North America.
"It's becoming death by a thousand cuts," Driediger said. "If you keep adding constraints, sooner or later you're going to choke the industry. The level of sophistication, the type of equipment that's required and the quality of the product that needs to be produced in order to be accepted by today's marketplace, it's almost impossible for smaller producers to survive economically."
Despite those obstacles, BCfresh has increased sales to $45 million in 2011 from $33 million five years ago. The growing demand for local produce provides more cause for optimism.
Ultimately, Driediger believes the family farm might still have a future.
"We now have the next generation getting involved in the farm," he said. "It warms my heart when I see that, because it's a tough choice for someone in their early 20s to make." •
