Strawberries, runner beans, chocolate peppers, purple peppers, a wide range of chilli peppers, plus a large acreage of red, yellow and orange bell peppers. You can find all of these crops at Orangeline Farms in Leamington, Ontario. Ever since the Kniaziew family started to market their own produce under the Zing! Healthy Foods brand in 2013, they have been known as a one of a kind grower that operates as a 'boutique' greenhouse with an interesting cropping scheme.
Orangeline Farms is a family owned greenhouse run by the brothers Duffy and Jordan Kniaziew. For many years they marketed their produce using a second party. When they decided that it was time to do something more unique, they took the leap of faith by creating their own brand and marketing division. "We enjoyed the greenhouse growing, but our ambition was different from the visions of common growers. We felt the urge to distinguish ourselves on the market and do something that nobody else was doing," said Orangeline's president and director of operations Duffy Kniaziew.
After they launched the Zing! Healthy Foods brand in 2013, they soon made their name as a boutique grower of specialty greenhouse products. Nowadays their operations consist of 32 acres (a mix of Venlo and poly greenhouses), in which they do not only grow a large amount of blocky peppers, but also many special greenhouse products that you will not easily find at other commercial growers with such a large scale operation.
Everyday they ship their fresh harvest to retailers and restaurants throughout Canada and the United States. According to Duffy, these customers appreciate the flexibility and extensive catalogue of Orangeline Farms. "We are a large grower that can supply them with the standard segment of premium bell peppers in any packaging, while at the same time we offer them niche products that they can normally only source from far away, from growers with unstable supplies. We can simply add any of our products to their shipment. And thanks to our efforts in growing specialty produce, imports are no longer needed and the consumers can enjoy a fresher product since it is locally grown."
When I toured Orangeline Farms, I was impressed by the enthusiasm that the Kniaziews had for experimenting with specialty crops. For instance, they built a separate controlled environment inside their bell pepper greenhouse to grow year round strawberries under LEDs, while they also experimented with outdoor production gutters. Next to this I walked into a bay with amazing runner beans on hydroponics. Where else can you find so much variety in the same greenhouse?
