cover story
Kitchen in full pie production at Langley’s Krause Berry Farms. Let ’em eat cake and more!
Whether it’s baked goods or some other special attraction, Krause Berry Farms is an example of how agri-tourism requires a concerted effort to provide visitors with amemorable experience.
By Judie Steeves I
t all began with a couple of acres of strawberries that provided enough income in the summer to pay for college tuition in the fall. But today, Krause Berry Farms in Langley is a 170-acre diversified, agri-tourism operation still operated by the Krause family.
During the mid-1970s, Alf Krause and his brother grew strawberries there in the summer and sold them to a processing plant. They’d grown up on a poultry farm, but had little experience with berries.
“We learned as we went along. Friends of my parents were instrumental in helping us out,” commented Krause, as he looked back on those early days.
Even then, prices were stagnant and less than the cost of production, so more money was needed to continue farming. However, he did make the decision to farm full-time and went on to take agriculture at BCIT, while running the farm—harvesting cauliflower and brussels sprouts between
JUDIE STEEVES
classes. More acreage became available about the time he completed his schooling and the farm operation evolved and expanded.
By 1978 it had already grown from a mix of u-pick and retail sales from a van, to an 8x8-foot shed; and it grew to a 20x24-foot shed in succeeding years.
By 1995 it was a market that expanded to an enclosed structure so it could operate beyond the short berry season. “It was a long road. We didn’t just open up the way we are today,” noted Krause.
From the two brothers, then Alf and Sandee Krause and their growing family, it expanded to where today they employ some 60 full- and part-time people, including a lot of high school and university students. There’s a core group of eight people, but 50 to 70 can be added during the picking season, beginning with strawberries in June. Not being located on a main road, it was necessary to bring people to the farm. The goal has always been to give them something to come out for; something different, he explained. Luckily, the neighbour had a u-pick operation that brought visitors to the area, and that helped in the early years.
In a way, it was like the cooperative marketing done today by different farms in brochures such as the self-guided Circle Farm Tours, or through growers’ associations or the Fraser Valley Farm Direct Marketing Association. All are a real help in notifying consumers and visitors about farm product and experience opportunities, notes Krause.
By the 1980s the Krause family saw changes in the wind British Columbia Berry Grower • Spring 2011
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