Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Soon after she launched Fran’s House of Herbs in 1997, the customers Fran Eldridge met at Saskatoon’s Farmers’ Market started to ask her if she could grow other herbs, as well. Now she has quite a greenhouse operation going south of Saskatoon on Highway 11, just north of Dundurn.
Eldridge grows 20 to 30 varieties of herbs in her greenhouses and the great outdoors. Her main focus is on culinary herbs, which are all grown without the use of pesticides.
“We have people from Regina stopping by regularly, and our product is also found in Saskatoon grocery stores. I would say that our number one seller is dill, followed by basil. We only grow basil in the greenhouse because of its need for heat. Our most popular dried herb is the Poultry Blend,” says Eldridge.
“The first time people come, they often ask: how do I use this? Part of our role is to educate customers in how to use the herbs, and one of the ways we do this is by including instructions on how to use a particular herb on each of our packages. One of the biggest factors that has influenced people’s appetite for herbs is the increasing popularity of TV cooking shows. They really shape consumer choices, because they show them how to prepare foods that were previously unknown to them.”
The increased popularity of herbs is being felt in Weyburn, as well. Listening to Paradise Foods’ President Grant Marcotte, it seems basil is a much sought after emerging commodity.
Started in 1996 out of a Regina apartment, Paradise Foods quickly found its niche supplying fresh herbs and 100 varieties of dry organic herbs and spices for culinary and medicinal usage to specialized grocery stores like the Italian Star Deli in Regina.
“My Weyburn-based partners convinced me of the wisdom of moving to Weyburn in order to expand the business,” quips Marcotte. “In 1998, we bought the 1912 McKinnon Building downtown and quickly set up production facilities at the new location.
“Technically, we are a hydroponic producer of fresh herbs: basil, oregano, thyme, dill and Tiny Tim tomatoes. But we grow mostly basil that we use to make our pesto.”
Paradise Foods makes four different types of pesto: basil pesto, nut-free basil pesto, Italian sun-dried tomato pesto and Kalarnatia pesto, that are available in fine food and organic food stores across Saskatchewan.
“We have seven employees. Being involved in a business like this is demanding in many ways,” Marcotte says. To set up their production facility, Marcotte and his partners gutted the entire second floor of the building to access 10,000 square feet of space. At the moment, Paradise Foods has between 3,000 and 4,000 square feet of production surface. The operation runs 365 days a year.
“Our production system is its own ecological system. We grow our plants in a water culture that runs continuously, to which we add nutrients. There is no soil involved, which means we use about one-thirteenth the quantity of water a typical greenhouse operation would use for a comparable production output. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has classified this as an artificial growing environment.”
Instead of regular sunlight, the operation relies on a metal halide lighting system. It even makes use of artificial wind in the form of fans, as wind also plays a role in production. There is an air exchange system for the facility, as well.
“Twice a day, temperature, humidity, nutrient and ph levels are checked by staff. They also perform a visual inspection for leaks or any kind of production troubles,” explains Marcotte.
“We monitor for pest problems and treat them naturally if they occur. As a precaution, we only allow staff inside of the production area.”
The proof of the quality of Paradise Food’s product is in the pudding… or shall we say in the pesto?
Such an approach to agriculture may appear unconventional to some, but the bottom line is catering to the expectations of consumers and so far, they are coming back for more.
For more information, contact:
Fran Eldridge
Fran’s House of Herbs
(306) 373-9014
http://cndcountrygifts.com/GOU-029.html
Grant Marcotte
President
Paradise Foods International Inc.
(306) 842-0148
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