ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — Build it and they will come rings true for Abbotsford farmers Rob and Charlotte Lepp.
After selling home grown corn at a roadside stand for 18 years, the couple opened Lepp Farm Market two and a half years ago.
Their families have farmed in the area since 1948. The Lepp farm consisted of vegetables, as well as a farrow to finish operation on three sites. By 2007, the hog side was losing so much money that the family had to diversify or quit.
“We had to reinvent ourselves as farmers because we were going broke,” said Charlotte.
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The focus is now marketing local food that appeals to gourmet fanciers.
“I don’t think there is anybody in the Fraser Valley who is doing what we are doing,” said Rob.
They do not widely advertise their store, but since they opened in November 2009, they have become a one-stop shop for customers looking for locally sourced food.
“We put up a sign and said, ‘open’ and the people came,” Charlotte said.
The store offers a wide variety of locally grown fruit, vegetables, meat, bakery, condiments and deli goods as well as a lunch counter and cooking classes.
Many of the products are grown on their farm behind the store, but they also sell primary products and further processed goods from Fraser Valley farmers.
“When we first opened, I was relentless, hounding people and tracking down all the products that I loved and wanted to carry in the store,” she said.
Now, local growers and processors approach them.
Apples, peaches, cherries and nectarines come from the Lepps’ mixed orchard in Osoyoos. The Abbotsford location, under the management of their son, Mike, supplies cucumbers, corn, beans, zucchini, squash and potatoes. They also sell local preserves, pickles, salad dressings, soup mixes, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, frozen soup and perogies.
“We try to be an around the edges grocery store. We carry everything you would need to make a meal for yourself,” she said.
The store’s showcase is the meat counter, which features the Lepps’ pork, poultry and Angus beef. B.C. lamb is available in season. They also take hundreds of orders at Christmas and Thanksgiving for free range turkeys that sell for up to $80 each.
No antibiotics or growth hormones are used in their meat.
“We know where all the meat comes from. If we don’t raise it, we know the farmer it comes from,” Charlotte said.
The meat counter stretches across the back of the store and with help from an in-store butcher, customers can select the cuts and marinades they want. Sausages and most deli meats are made on site, with their son, Jason, taking over that end of the business.
The hog farm, which once shipped 300 pigs a week, now ships about 30, with more than half destined for the family store.
Angus beef cattle are raised at a ranch near Cache Creek, B.C., and finished at a small feedlot. The store needs 12 to 14 head every two weeks. There is a limited amount of seafood and a few cuts of bison.
“I look at value adding,” Rob said. “I was tired of raising these animals, shipping them to the killing plant and next week they send you a cheque.”
It is a busy, attractive market with a country motif. The staff is encouraged to get to know the regular customers, who tend to be middle-aged urban residents with disposable income.
“There is a certain demographic that is willing to pay a little bit more for locally produced things. It is more expensive to grow strawberries here than California,” she said.
While the store has an organic section, most people are content with local products from small scale food producers who can provide them with specialty items.
“There’s lots of stories behind a lot of our products, and that’s what we love,” she said.
Customers want to talk with them about where the food came from as well as how the animals were raised, treated and processed.
After the first year, the Lepps had already met many of the goals they set out in their five year plan.
“We are just a young baby company, even though we have exploded,” Rob said. He foresees expanding floor space rather than setting up other venues in the valley.
“We are going to build this centrepiece and we are going to feed it with our farming operation. That is our vision of how to be successful in farming,” Rob said.
“At this place, there is a passion for me staying in agriculture. She brings the passion for being a foodie and it is that combination that makes this thing work.”
The customer base is growing beyond Abbotsford and people are now coming for the country tourism.
“People in the city are looking for the experience of coming out to the country and talking with the farmer,” Charlotte said.
Added Rob: “We struck some sort of chord with what people are looking for.”
