Nature Fresh Farms in Ontario: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Nature Fresh Farms is a family-owned greenhouse vegetable company based in Leamington, Ontario. A 2024 company announcement says it grew from a single 18-acre greenhouse in 1999 to operate and market 2,500 acres of greenhouses across Canada, the United States and Mexico.
| Location | Leamington, Essex County, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999, by Peter Quiring (as published) |
| Sectors | Greenhouse tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and berries |
| Scale | Operates and markets 2,500 acres of greenhouses in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico (company announcement) |
| Why it is notable | Large, long-running greenhouse grower with year-round supply and an in-house variety trial greenhouse |
| Ownership | Family-owned; founder Peter Quiring moved to executive chairman in 2024 |
| Official website | Nature Fresh Farms official site |
History of Nature Fresh Farms
Nature Fresh Farms was founded in 1999 by Peter Quiring, a mechanical engineer, with a stated aim of packing maximum flavour and nutrition into each tomato while growing it sustainably. The company began with a single 18-acre greenhouse in Leamington, the heart of Ontario's greenhouse vegetable belt.
In 2019 trade coverage described the company celebrating a 20-year anniversary with a new 32-acre Leamington greenhouse that took nine months to build and employs about 80 team members. The company had also built a greenhouse in Ohio, which it described as a USA-grown program for winter supply. In November 2024 it announced that Patrick Criteser, formerly of Tillamook County Creamery Association, would become chief executive, with Quiring moving to executive chairman and John Ketler staying on as president.
What Nature Fresh Farms Grows and Raises
The company grows and markets tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and berries year-round. Its 2.5-acre Discovery Center is a trial greenhouse used to develop new varieties, and it markets exclusive lines such as Hiiros tomatoes under a Greenhouse Clean label.
Published practices include growing plants in coconut husks, recirculating water in a closed-loop system, burning clean waste wood for heat, growing vertically to increase yield in less space, and using bumblebees and beneficial insects for pollination and pest control. Trade coverage of the 32-acre house also mentions self-driving carts, supplemental lighting and vertical circulation fans.
Product is sold to retailers and consumers across North America. The company's stated goal is consistency in supply, quality and flavour through the year, which is why it combines Ontario houses with a winter-production greenhouse in Ohio.
How Nature Fresh Farms Makes Money
Year-round retail supply
Greenhouse growing lets the company ship tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and berries in every season. Reliable weekly volume is what retail programs pay for, and the company says that consistency is its goal.
Branded and exclusive varieties
Exclusive lines such as Hiiros tomatoes and the Greenhouse Clean label give the company something to sell beyond a commodity box. The Discovery Center trial greenhouse feeds that pipeline.
Growth across North America
The company markets greenhouse production in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Its 2024 leadership announcement said the new chief executive would lead growth in team, products and distribution.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Nature Fresh Farms
Controlled-environment growers can break the link between weather and supply. Nature Fresh pairs that with a trial greenhouse, so new varieties are tested on its own glass before they reach customers.
A second lesson is geographic spread: adding winter production in Ohio let an Ontario company offer a steadier year-round program to U.S. retail partners. Leadership succession was also handled openly, with the founder moving to chair while a new chief executive takes day-to-day growth.
Growing tomatoes in coconut husks while bumblebees do the pollinating is a world far from the tractor cab, and farm.FM admires it anyway. Good farm satire needs a straight man, and a greenhouse where the bees have jobs fits nicely. Farm humor might ask whether the bumblebees get a union, and ranch humor would wonder who herds them at night. These farm jokes come with respect for anyone who keeps the tomatoes coming through a Leamington winter.
If the name is new to you, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site, with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers on the side. One of its regular writers keeps a whole archive of stories like that.
How to Contact Nature Fresh Farms
Website: https://naturefreshfarms.com/
Only the official website is listed here; no address, phone or email is reproduced because they were not confirmed from the company's own site in the sources used. Checked November 2026. Confirm any visit or sales enquiry with the company directly.
Nature Fresh Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Nature Fresh Farms - Official company site.
- Business Wire: Nature Fresh Farms names new CEO - November 2024 announcement with company history, acreage and practices.
- Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: 32-acre greenhouse - Trade coverage of the Leamington expansion.
- Statistics Canada: Canadian Agriculture at a Glance - Official Census of Agriculture figures on Canadian farms, including Ontario sectors.
- Foodland Ontario - Provincial program promoting Ontario-grown food and farm stories.
Nature Fresh Farms FAQ
Where is Nature Fresh Farms based?
Its headquarters are in Leamington, Ontario, with facilities across North America.
When was Nature Fresh Farms founded?
A company announcement says it was founded in 1999 by Peter Quiring.
What does Nature Fresh Farms grow?
Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and berries, sold year-round.
Who leads Nature Fresh Farms?
In November 2024 the company named Patrick Criteser chief executive, with Peter Quiring as executive chairman and John Ketler as president.
Nature Fresh Farms shows how a single greenhouse can become a North American program through variety work, sustainability practice and year-round supply. For the programs, markets and sector context behind Ontario greenhouse growing, see the Ontario farms guide and the other profiles below.