About Us

At Great Northern Hydroponics, our goal is to achieve the perfect integration between agriculture and technology — using techniques that are environmentally sustainable and responsible — to deliver the best quality tomatoes to your table. From growing and packaging to shipping and distribution, every step of our process upholds our commitment to uncompromised quality and accuracy.

Our 70-acre facility grows more than 10 varieties of tomatoes, proudly sold under the Village Farms^® label. Last year, we produced 20 million pounds of premium tomatoes. Our hydroponic greenhouses create optimum growing conditions: a biologically controlled environment that is both pesticide- and herbicide-free.

We then package our tomatoes on-site and ship directly to retailers, using sophisticated technology paired with our meticulous attention to detail to guarantee freshness and high quality.

History

Great Northern Hydroponics began growing tomatoes in 1998 with our first greenhouse, a 50-acre conventional facility. In 2011 we added a 15-acre glass greenhouse with supplemental lighting and growing controls, which allows us to grow tomatoes year-round.

To make our operations more sustainable, Great Northern Hydroponics partnered with sister company Soave Cogeneration (Soave Hydroponics Company, also a member of the Soave Agriculture Group) in 2008 to install a cogeneration (Combined Heating and Power) system. This cogeneration system reduces our energy input costs by creating a new revenue stream from selling electricity into the grid while capturing the byproducts (heat + CO₂) for our operations as clean resources. We return 12 Megawatts of energy back to the power grid, enough to power 15,000 households across Ontario.

Great Northern Hydroponics and Soave Cogeneration are part of Soave Enterprises. Founded in 1961 in Detroit by Anthony Soave, this family of companies fosters an entrepreneurial culture and a commitment to excellence. Great Northern Hydroponics upholds an SQF (Safe Quality Food) accredited status that combines food safety and quality management practices.