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cover story


From dairy to berry


Fresh and processed fruit and a winery are all part of the remarkable transition for Coastal Black operation in the Comox Valley. By Tamara Leigh


A


bel O’Brennan doesn’t do anything in a small way. During the past eight years, the young berry grower, entrepreneur and father of four has played a central


role in the transformation of his wife Amanda’s family farm froma dairy to one of Vancouver Island’s largest berry farms and fastest-growing fruit wineries, Coastal Black. It has been a steep learning curve. Born and raised on


Vancouver Island, O’Brennan wasn’t raised to farm, and has donemost of his studying at “the school of hard knocks.” You don’t have to talk to himfor long to realize how his intelligence, work ethic and ability to identify and seek out the information he needs have helped the operation grow and thrive. The farmwas started by Terry and Bonnie Ludwig in the


early 1990s as a dairy operation,milking 260 cows. They began with 125 acres, and gradually acquired over 800 acres just north of Courtenay at Black Creek. As their children reached adulthood, it became apparent


that none of themwere interested inmilking cows. After exploring the options and opportunities, they put in their first berry plantings in 2006, and began the transition out of dairy. Today, Coastal Black is one of the largest berry farms on Vancouver Island, with 80 acres in blackberries, 20 acres in


TAMARA LEIGH


Coastal Black is the largest producer of cultivated blackberries in Canada. It also has 20 acres in raspberries and 16 in blueberries.


raspberries and 16 acres in blueberries. It co-exists on the original Ludwig property with complementary businesses run by their two sons – Big D’s Bees, run by Daniel; and a customsawmill, run by Phil. “The amount of blackberries we grow is unique.We are the


largest cultivated grower in the country. It sounds fancy, but it’s just a lot of weeds in a row really,” says O’Brennan, half- joking as he drives through the fields. The operation began with a focus on growing berries for


the processingmarket, but quickly diversified. Roughly 35 percent of the crop is sold fresh, 35 per cent individually quick frozen (IQF) or processed, and the remaining 30


British Columbia Berry Grower • Winter 2013-14 5


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