ATV Farms, an Ontario-based grower-packer-distributor of carrots, onions, parsnips, beets and other root vegetables says it has acquired Sunfresh Farms, an Edmonton, Alberta-based grower-shipper-wholesaler of fruits and vegetables in western Canada.
ATV Farms operates more than 7,000 acres of farmland and has a 300,000-square-foot processing and packing facility in Ontario.
Travis Agresti, second-generation grower and partner of ATV Farms, says his family’s business has a strong presence in the eastern part of Canada and the northeast of the U.S., and sought a presence in west to better serve its national retailers.
“There’s someone who does something similar to what we do in British Columbia, but other than that, there’s not a lot in the western provinces except Sunfresh, which has been around for many years,” Agresti told The Packer. “We thought it was a natural progression to be able to service retail accounts internationally and be able to take care of Canadians nationally across the country.”
Agresti said the addition of Sunfresh Farms would also help take some pressure of ATV Farms’ eastern facility and allow the company to continue to grow. ATV Farms will sell its products under its Green Earth Organics label as well as its ATV Farms. However, the Sunfresh name won’t be going away with this move, he said.
“The previous ownership group had done a great job at building the brand,” he said. “All the employees remained. The director of operations, Kyle Lynch, who is running the facility for us and overseeing farming operations, is still in place, and the Sunfresh label has got a great reputation, so there’s no plans on changing.”
Agresti said he expects to offer more ATV Farms and Green Earth Organics products in the western part of Canada as a secondary label.
Agresti said this acquisition comes after a fire destroyed ATV Farms’ packing facility and office in Holland Landing, Ontario. From this, the company worked hard to rebuild from scratch, which makes the news of the Sunfresh acquisition even more meaningful for the company.
“Between the two [ATV Farms’ and Green Earth Organics], we are the largest conventional root veggie grower in the country as well as the biggest organic distributor,” he said. “So, with the acquisition in the west as well as the new facility and adding acreage in the east, it just allowed us to be a leader in Canada and be able better service U.S. retail accounts that we have as well as ensure that we are we are servicing all our Canadian retailers.”
