Vermeulen Farms in Canning: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Vermeulen Farms of Canning, in the Annapolis Valley, is a produce grower that Loblaw named an Atlantic grower of the year in April 2015 for leadership in food safety, quality, corporate social responsibility and customer service. A Canadian produce directory lists about 450 acres, and owner Andy Vermeulen won the Nova Scotia Institute of Agrologists Distinguished Farm Award in 2003.
| Location | Canning, Kings County, Nova Scotia |
|---|---|
| Founded | Not published in the sources reviewed |
| Sectors | strawberries; salad and cooking vegetables; melons |
| Scale | About 450 acres per a Canadian produce directory; one-acre greenhouse built in 2017 producing 400,000 strawberry plants a year per CBC |
| Why it is elite | Loblaw Atlantic Grower of the Year 2015; Andy Vermeulen's 2003 Distinguished Farm Award |
| Ownership | Family farm led by Andy Vermeulen |
| Official website | Hortidaily report on Vermeulen Farms' Atlantic Grower of the Year award |
History of Vermeulen Farms
Andy Vermeulen was named the Nova Scotia Institute of Agrologists Distinguished Farm Award recipient in 2003, a provincial honour for outstanding farm operators. The farm began with fresh salad vegetables and later added asparagus, cucumbers, peppers, squash and zucchini, according to CBC reporting.
In April 2015 Loblaw presented the farm with its Atlantic Grower of the Year award at a growers conference in Charlottetown. The award recognizes food safety, quality, corporate social responsibility and customer service, and Vermeulen said he was totally surprised to receive it. In 2017 the farm built a greenhouse of about an acre for roughly $1 million, inspired in part by methods he saw on a visit to family in the Netherlands.
What Vermeulen Farms Grows and Raises
Strawberries are now the largest crop. The greenhouse produces about 400,000 strawberry plants a year, which move to tunnel houses in a nearby field where berries are picked for about five months. Growing your own transplants and fruiting them under cover lengthens the season and gives better control over disease and quality.
The produce directory also lists melons (cantaloupe and honeydew), cooking vegetables such as asparagus and squash, and salad vegetables including celery, cucumbers, radishes, romaine and several lettuces, from a 48 Rabbit Square Road address in Canning on about 450 acres. The Atlantic Grower of the Year award signals that the farm sells to a major national grocery chain.
How Vermeulen Farms Makes Money
Retail chain supply
The grower award came from Loblaw, so supplying a national retailer is a documented part of the business. That demands consistent volume, packaging, traceability and food safety audits.
Strawberries from protected culture
Greenhouse transplants and tunnel production let the farm bring strawberries to market over about five months. Protected culture typically improves yield and fruit quality, though the farm has not published its returns.
Diversified vegetables and melons
A mix of strawberries, melons and field and salad vegetables spreads weather and price risk across the season, as listed in the directory.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Vermeulen Farms
Invest in the crop's weakest link. Producing 400,000 transplants in a one-acre greenhouse addressed plant supply, season length and disease together, and the owner borrowed the idea from growers abroad.
Treat compliance as a sales tool. Loblaw's award criteria were food safety, quality, social responsibility and service, and the farm earned recognition for meeting them. Other growers aiming at national retail should build those systems before approaching buyers.
A farm that grows its own strawberry plants indoors while snow still decorates the Valley has strong opinions about spring, and we respect that. For farm satire with the same long view, visit farm.FM, where the farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes ripen on schedule and never need a tunnel house. Somewhere in Canning a very organized cucumber is waiting to be graded.
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 Vermeulen Farms
No official farm website was found, so the link points to a published award report. No phone or email was verified from an official source, so none is listed; a produce directory lists the farm at 48 Rabbit Square Road, Canning. Confirm before any visit or business inquiry.
Vermeulen Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Vermeulen Farms Atlantic Grower of the Year - Trade report on the 2015 Loblaw award
- CBC: planting ideas for growth on Nova Scotia farms - News feature on the greenhouse and strawberries
- NSIA Distinguished Farm Award - List of award recipients including Andy Vermeulen in 2003
- Nova Scotia 2021 Census of Agriculture summary - Provincial statistics on farms and farm area
- Statistics Canada: Nova Scotia farming - 2021 Census of Agriculture highlight
Vermeulen Farms FAQ
What does Vermeulen Farms grow?
Strawberries are the largest crop, alongside melons, asparagus, squash, cucumbers and salad vegetables.
What recognition has it received?
Loblaw named it an Atlantic grower of the year in April 2015, and Andy Vermeulen received the Nova Scotia Institute of Agrologists Distinguished Farm Award in 2003.
How large is the farm?
A Canadian produce directory lists about 450 acres, and CBC reports a one-acre greenhouse producing 400,000 strawberry plants a year.
Can I contact it?
No official site was found. A produce directory lists a Canning address; confirm any inquiry before traveling.
Vermeulen Farms shows how a Canning grower can combine protected strawberry production with retail-chain standards. Read the Nova Scotia farms guide for provincial context, programs and the other profiled operations.