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cover story Profile of a true-blue believer


The blueberry bizmight not be perfect, but Makara is confident about its long-term future.


By Judie Steeves M


ike Makara’s grandfather was among the first farmers east of Richmond to grow


blueberries, in Matsqui after the 1948 flood.


Although Mike was born in Poland, his family decided to move to Canada in 1958 and join his grandfather in the Fraser Valley. By then, he was growing raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, but about 40 per cent of his crop was blueberries. Like many youngsters raised on farms, growing up, Makara says he didn’t want to farm when he finished school.


Instead, he went to university, then switched to BCIT, where he took civil engineering, and ended up working for B.C. Hydro in the geotechnical area, working in the bush for half the year.


Then he met someone who would be his future wife, Mary, in Revelstoke, and began to realize that working out of town for half a year was not going to be very good for a marriage.


“So, I talked to my Dad and I partnered with him and my brother- in-law growing blueberries. We supported three families,” Makara recalls.


They had 300 acres in six different parcels in different areas of the Fraser Valley, under the company named Makara Farms Ltd.


Then, in 1989, they sold it to large- scale Nova Scotia blueberry grower and multi-millionaire John Bragg. Makara stayed on as manager for the next 13 years, running the western operation for him.


In 2002 Bragg sold it all and Makara was out of a job.


But, he and his wife had bought an Abbotsford blueberry farm in 1983, so they were still farming blueberries.


The 24-acre Blue Vision Farms Inc. includes 20 acres planted in blueberries. Although his son lives on the farm, he works outside the industry at this point, but Makara is optimistic that one day his son may take it over.


“It’s a vibrant, growing industry,” Makara believes.


“This is a phenomenal climate. Temperatures are very moderate. The production or return per acre is as high as you can get. We have the highest return per acre of anywhere in Canada here. It’s very productive,” he comments.


All of Makara’s production is machine-picked, destined for Berryhill Foods in nearby Mount Lehman, a company in which Makara is a partner.


At Berryhill, the blueberries are all frozen, along with some raspberries— around 15 million pounds altogether— and supplied to Fortune 500 companies.


“I believe we have one of the best processing plants in North America,” says Makara.


“We conform to the top standards—


All the production from Makara’s Abbotsford operation is destined for


Berryhill Foods, a company in which he is a partner, and where it is frozen for shipment to Fortune 500 companies.


JUDIE STEEVES


what the customer wants,” he explains.


Their products are sold to


companies like Costco, Smucker’s and E.D. Smith, and some are even sold into Japan.


The company employs


computerized laser sorting equipment that can be adjusted to the customer’s demands to pick out defects and sort for colour.


So, although even more blueberries are being sold fresh now, none of Makara’s Duke, Bluecrop and Rekas go into the fresh market.


Because his berries are all machine- picked, he’d like to encourage the harvester manufacturers to come up with machines that will pick for the fresh market.


The number one concern is labour, not just because of the cost, but because you can lose a crop if it’s not available, says Makara.


Still, he feels this is one of the best industries to be involved with. “There are going to be some poor years, but in the long term, this is still a good business to be in.”


British Columbia Berry Grower • Winter 2011-12 7


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