Village Farms International Inc. and Great Northern Hydroponics (Great Northern) located in Kingsville, Ontario are pleased to announce an exclusive distribution agreement between the two companies. Village Farms is a progressive vertically integrated food company focused on growing, marketing, and distributing its branded fruits and vegetables to retailers throughout the United States and Canada. Great Northern is a world class grower which has been growing in the Kingsville-Leamington area in Ontario since 1998. Great Northern is the only Ontario greenhouse vegetable grower who produces locally-grown production year-round through the use of supplemental lighting during the winter months and has a related entity that owns and operates a 12 MW cogeneration plant, which supplies the Ontario grid with power and the greenhouse with heat and CO2.
According to Michael A. DeGiglio, President & CEO of Village Farms, “We are happy to be able to extend our exclusive specialty tomatoes varieties with additional production capacity. This allows us to expand our entire product line into the Ontario market, eastern Canada, as well as the midwest and eastern United States to both existing customers and new customers. The integration of our facilities will provide for better nationwide customer service, local product and a reduction in food miles. Village Farms will start to offer the new product volume to its customers beginning later this year.” Mr. DeGiglio went on to say “Although we have worked with growers in Kingsville-Leamington for over 25 years this is our first distribution agreement in the Kingsville-Leamington area and we are very excited about the future possibilities for both organizations”.
Guido van het Hof, President of Great Northern said: “This is a great opportunity for Great Northern to expand its product lines through the exclusive varieties provided by Village Farms. We have known and followed Village Farms and are excited to be able to provide our production to their customer base.”
For more information
Village Farms International
Stephen C. Ruffini, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
T: (407) 936-1190 ext 340
Great Northern Hydroponics