VanderHouts have been growing greenhouse vegetables in Canada for almost six decades. Brothers Jan and Dale VanderHout are the third generation running Beverly Greenhouses near Hamilton, Ont., one of the province’s largest greenhouse cucumber growers. And with eight kids between them, a fourth generation seems likely.
The brothers’ growth ambitions and passion for their business have been key to Beverly Greenhouses’ longevity and success, along with a strong hands-on work ethic.
“Both Dale and I work very hard to this day and we’ve been able to expand over the years,” Jan VanderHout says. “That has been the key to remaining viable; those who didn’t invest in expansion and modernization quickly exited the industry.”
Today, Beverly Greenhouses grows 27 acres of English cucumbers and raise their own cucumber plants in two acres of propagation greenhouses. Production is staggered so there is always crop going out the door, and through Bayshore Vegetable Shippers in Burlington, their cucumbers end up in major Canadian and U.S. grocery stores.