Succession: The 3rd Generation

December 2021

In 2018, the generational succession process was put into play. Ron's sons Chris and Trevor each expressed interest in participating in the succession planning, to eventually take over ownership of the family business. After many days of meetings with each other and with various types of advisors, as well as through careful planning and discussions, a plan was formed and executed.

As of December 2021, Ron is officially retired from the business, but will continue to play a key part in supporting Chris and Trevor, both through advice and through day-to-day operational activities that can be done at his own pace and on his own terms. This will free up Ron to travel more, to reduce stress and enjoy other activities, and to explore new opportunities to use his gifts.

Chris and Trevor now step into leadership, with plans to continue to positively impact people and businesses up and down our supply chain, as well as our employees and the surrounding community. While there will be plenty of crossover, Chris's role will focus on the administration of the business, and Trevor will focus primarily on the operations and ensuring that we continue to effectively grow and ship excellent and safe produce. This marks the 3rd generation of the Voorberg family to farm on this acreage, and it is our prayer that we will continue to grow as we faithfully steward that which we have been blessed with.

Commissioning the Cogen Plant

August 2017

Many years in the making, Foothill has officially commissioned it's first Cogeneration plant, located right on the farm itself. A new building houses a containerized natural-gas-fired Jenbacher engine along with complete heat recovery, state of the art control system, and electrical transformer outside. The package was supplied and installed by AB Energy Canada.

This system, capable of generating 3.233MW per hour to the Ontario power grid, will be engaged when electricity is in peak demand, when we are deemed to run by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). The Cogen also serves as a backup heat source for our farm during times of extreme cold or in the event our primary heating equipment experiences a breakdown. Heat from the generation process is captured in our closed-loop hot water system and used to heat our production greenhouses. This synergistic approach to electricity generation will be beneficial for our business and for the IESO, and is a more efficient and sustainable way to produce electricity during times of high demand.

Employing Robotics

April 2014

At our farm we always want to improve efficiency and make our harvesting and packaging processes more consistent. With rapid technological improvements over the past years, manufacturers in Europe have been able to develop some impressive machinery that is gentle and precise enough to handle tender fruit and vegetables.

Over the past year or two, Foothill has taken a great step forward in our packing facility, installing a new handling, routing and palletizing system to handle all of our boxed cucumbers. Manufactured by AWETA and TAKS in Holland, this system prevents the need for human handling and stacking of heavy items, reducing fatigue and injury risk for our employees.

This new setup allows us to allocate our human resources in other places that they are required, resulting in our ability to increase our production without subsequently increasing our expenses. We also have been able to improve our product labeling processes as a direct result due to the consistency and accuracy of the new equipment.