Riverside Growers in the Northwest Territories: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Riverside Growers of Hay River is one of the largest vegetable growers in the Northwest Territories, a family farm on 5 acres with a 5,200 square foot greenhouse that sells salad greens and herbs in Hay River and Yellowknife. In 2021 it was one of three Hay River operations named in a federal and territorial funding announcement for the territory's major growers.
| Location | Hay River, South Slave region, Northwest Territories |
|---|---|
| Founded | Family has been developing the farm business since 2016 (GNWT release) |
| Sectors | Greenhouse and market garden: salad mix, lettuces, herbs, kale, chard |
| Scale | 5-acre farm with a 5,200 square foot greenhouse (GNWT release) |
| Why it is elite | One of three Hay River growers funded as NWT major growers in 2021; supplies Yellowknife grocery stores and restaurants |
| Ownership | Family-owned |
| Official website | GNWT release: Riverside Growers expand market reach to Yellowknife grocery stores |
History of Riverside Growers
According to a Government of the Northwest Territories release, the family behind Riverside Growers has been building the farm business since 2016. The operation sits in Hay River, the commercial hub of the South Slave region, where the long summer day, river-valley soils and road access south make it one of the better-placed farm communities in the territory.
In February 2021, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the GNWT announced about $410,000 in combined funding for three Hay River operations under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Riverside Growers received $118,642 to increase production capacity, improve processing flow and effectively double its growing space, with new multi-functional processing equipment for a broader range of products. Cabin Radio covered the announcement and quoted a local producer saying the territory was moving toward a true agricultural sector rather than isolated projects.
A later GNWT Industry, Tourism and Investment release describes the farm expanding its market reach to Yellowknife grocery stores, with a recently expanded greenhouse built with partial territorial funding.
What Riverside Growers Grows and Raises
Riverside Growers grows leafy greens and herbs. The GNWT release lists salad mix, green leaf and butterhead lettuce, romaine, kale, watercress, Swiss chard, basil both cut and living, dill, chives, cilantro and mint. These are high-value, quick-turn crops that suit a short outdoor season supported by greenhouse space.
The release says production had run for about five months a year, with plans to extend beyond summer and possibly operate through winter. Winter production in a place like Hay River depends on heat, supplemental light and power costs, so the expansion of growing space and processing equipment is as much about efficiency as about acreage.
How Riverside Growers Makes Money
Grocery retail
The GNWT release lists Hay River's Super A, and in Yellowknife, Independent Grocers and the Yellowknife Co-op, as retail outlets for the farm's produce. Supplying grocery shelves gives a steady weekly volume that a farmers market alone cannot.
Restaurants and institutions
The same release names Weaver and Devore, NWT Food Services, Copperhouse Eatery and NWT Brewing Co as customers. Chefs and food distributors pay for freshness and consistency, which a local greenhouse can deliver year after year.
Value-added and processing
The 2021 funding was aimed at processing flow and equipment for a broader range of products. Washing, bagging and mixing greens, and packing cut herbs, adds shelf life and margin compared with selling by the head.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Riverside Growers
The first lesson is to pick crops that fit the geography. Greens and herbs are light, perishable and expensive to fly north, so a nearby grower has a real freshness and freight advantage that a southern shipper cannot easily match.
The second is to sell through several channels at once: grocery, distributors and restaurants. The third is to use public programs deliberately. The Canadian Agricultural Partnership and territorial programs supported both capacity and processing here, and a northern grower who plans the expansion around the program's goals tends to get more from it.
Few places can match Hay River for a growing season that trades length for sheer daylight, and a farm that sells basil, dill and mint to Yellowknife kitchens is a reminder that a garden can be a business anywhere. Our farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes at farm.FM have yet to find a punchline better than a lettuce that outruns the midnight sun, and we say that with real admiration for northern growers.
farm.FM calls itself the nation's first satirical farm site, and between the headlines it spins Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers; a good place to start reading is this farm.FM columnist's archive.
How to Contact Riverside Growers
No official Riverside Growers website, address or phone appeared in the sources used for this page, so the link above is the best verified public page about the farm. The GNWT release carries a further-information link; contact the GNWT Agriculture and Fisheries office or look for the farm at Hay River and Yellowknife grocers. Details checked November 2026.
Riverside Growers Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- GNWT on Riverside Growers - Territorial release on crops, acreage, greenhouse and Yellowknife markets
- AAFC funding for NWT major growers - Federal announcement of the 2021 Hay River funding
- Cabin Radio on Hay River growers - Independent coverage of the funding and the NWT agriculture sector
- GNWT agriculture sector profile - Territorial overview of commercial agriculture, greenhouses and programs
- Statistics Canada 2021 Census of Agriculture - Farm numbers and characteristics for Yukon and the Northwest Territories
Riverside Growers FAQ
Where is Riverside Growers?
Riverside Growers is a family farm in Hay River, in the South Slave region of the Northwest Territories.
What does Riverside Growers grow?
The GNWT lists salad mix, several lettuces, kale, watercress, Swiss chard, basil, dill, chives, cilantro and mint.
How big is the farm?
A GNWT release describes a 5-acre farm with a 5,200 square foot greenhouse.
Where is the produce sold?
The GNWT lists Super A in Hay River and Independent Grocers and the Yellowknife Co-op in Yellowknife, plus restaurant and foodservice customers.
Riverside Growers is a good example of how a small, focused greenhouse operation becomes a real business in the far north: modest acres, tight crop choices and a dependable route to market. To see how it fits with egg production, community greenhouses and territorial programs, read the Northwest Territories farms guide and the other profiles in this region.