Calgary bureau
A hard decision to sell a multi-generation farm has turned into a positive business opportunity.
Gary and Sue Snow of Creston, B.C., decided to sell their cherry orchard while still producing award winning juice under the Tabletree label. Within a couple days of selling the property, they were offered a chance to set up their juice plant with the Flathead Cherry Growers Association co-operative in Montana. This organization represents about 70 growers on 700 acres of cherries.
“They offered us everything we have been trying to get up here for the last five years,” said Gary.
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Juice will be processed at their Creston facility this year, but next year they set up shop at Kalispell, Mont., where their dreams of major expansion can be realized.
“We are also looking at expansion into the Okanagan as well,” said Sue.
The specialized equipment will be set up in a new facility in Montana with plans to return to British Columbia.
The juice is sold in Canada, the United States and Asia. While they have won awards at the international level, and demand was growing, they could not find the financing to expand.
Leaving the country is difficult but the opportunity could not be turned down, they said.
“The economic development will not happen in the (Creston) Valley right now, which is sad, but we had a chance to go where we could expand,” she said.
“We literally had orders for hundreds of thousands of bottles that we couldn’t fill,” she said.
The farm financing and business plans were more competitive than what was offered in Canada, so they felt this was a suitable move for them.
The juice goes into 250 and 750 millilitre bottles. They produce about 15,000 bottles of juice a year as well as culinary sauces.
barbara.duckworth@producer.com
