Vineland Co-op recognized for excellence in business!

We are proud to announce that Vineland Growers Co-operative Ltd. was recently recognized as this year’s recipient of the Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Business Achievement Award in the town of Lincoln (in the larger business category).


When George Mitges, general manager of Vineland Growers Co-operative learned that they had been nominated for the award, he commented that this was a huge honour for his staff, but also very much for the more than 300 members in the farming community that they serve. “It reflects the positive relationship we have with our customer base and our own employees and it is truly an honour to be recognized in this way,” says Mitges.


In the nomination, it stated that Vineland Growers Co-operative was a prime candidate to receive this honour because of its longevity of 97 years in business as an integral part of the fabric of the Niagara Peninsula that continually focuses on improving its member-customers' profit margins. Over the years, Vineland Co-op has developed a strong team of employees who are passionate about seeing their customers succeed and show strength in employing local area people and support for many local charities.


Vineland Growers Co-operative Ltd. was established in 1913, and was founded by four forward-thinking farmers who realized there were benefits to working together. Now the company represents more than 300 tender fruit growers, most of which hail from the Niagara region. Today Vineland Co-operative has 29 full time employees but grows to an employee base of three times that amount in the peak growing season.


This unique thing about Vineland Growers Co-op is that is fully owned by the producers it serves. It provides the sales and marketing support to its farmer-owners by effectively selling their fruit to major grocery store chains across Canada and in some locations in the United States filling their shelves with high quality cherries, yellow and blue plums, peaches, nectarines, table grapes, pears and most recently vineyard grapes. The supply side of the business provides farmers with the tools and products they need to maximize production such as fertilizers, sprays and other agricultural inputs. Vineland Growers Co-operative also manufactures and sells a large quantity of fruit baskets, shipment trays and other container styles that resulted in almost nine million units sold last year!


In 2001, Vineland Growers Co-operative received the Ontario Co-operative Association’s Co-operative Innovator Award and in 2005 and 2007 was honoured with the Top Twenty Percent Award from GROWMARK, Inc.


The Outstanding Business Achievement Awards (OBAA) were established in 2003, and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce awards are presented annually to celebrate the success and excellence of local area businesses who work towards supporting a vibrant local economy and demonstrate commitment to nurturing community wellness.

Several of Vineland Growers Co-operative’s staff attended the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Awards night that took place on March 30 at the Inn on the 20 to receive this prestigious award. Holding up the award are from ( L-R) Scott Wright Purchasing manager, Ed Pogoda IT and Retail services manager, Dave Lepp Operations Manager, Mike Ryan Director of Finance, George Mitges General Manager, Dave Prudhomme manufacturing manager.

New ownership and new life for St. Charles grocery store

After a long search to sustain grocery store services for local residents of St. Charles, the board of directors and management team of Co-opérative Régionale de Nipissing Sudbury is proud to announce that they have put in place an agreement to sell the assets of its St. Charles Foodland grocery store to a local area grocer. The deal is expected to close on May 2.

Under this agreement, Edmund Jianyong will be the new owner of the St. Charles store. He is an experienced retailer and has owned and operated a Quick Way store in Bonfield for the past three years. He plans to bring fresh ideas that have been successful at his Bonfield location and also wants to expand the hardware product line as well as some of the existing services already offered. The new store will be operating under the name St-Charles Food Town.

“This transaction is not only a win-win for the community but also for our employees,” says Savage. Most employees will be able to keep their jobs under the new management or through their seniority rights. The remaining few were compensated fairly through an offer of retirement.

“A new owner with new ideas is probably exactly what this store needs to succeed,” says Raymond Brouillette, president of the board of directors of the co-operative. “It has been a long process that could not have been achieved without the support of the community.”