AUGUST 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


17


Berryhill opens new Chilliwack processing plant IQF, processing market focus of plant serving eastern Fraser Valley


by DAVID SCHMIDT CHILLIWACK – BC


blueberry growers have another option for their ever-expanding crop with the opening of Berryhill Foods’ new IQF and cold storage facility in Chilliwack, June 21. Bill Whaley, Steve


Phillips, Mike Makara and several other growers formed Berryhill Foods in 1994 out of the ashes of the BC Blueberry Co-op. “We processed five million pounds of berries that year,” Phillips recalls. Berryhill’s Abbotsford plant has expanded twice over the past 13 years and the company now processes about 20 million pounds of raspberries and blueberries annually. “We process about 10% of the BC blueberry crop,” Phillips says, noting that Berryhill now ranks among the largest processors in the province.


The new Chilliwack plant


increases Berryhill’s capacity by upwards of seven million pounds. Most of the berries for the new plant will likely come from growers in the Chilliwack area.


“We work with about 100 growers


across the province,” Phillips notes. Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz was on hand for the lavish grand opening ceremony. She cut the ribbon and


welcomed Berryhill to the city’s agricultural industrial park, soon to be dominated by a new Molson Coors brewery. “Our council’s priority is to always


make room for business,” Gaetz said, noting that one of the best things about Berryhill is that it’s a family business.


Although there are


seven shareholders in the company, Berryhill is run almost exclusively by the Phillips family. Steve Phillips is president, while his three sons handle day- to-day operations. Unlike most BC berry


Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz cuts the ribbon during the grand opening of the new Berryhill Foods processing plant in Chilliwack, June 21, surrounded by shareholders. DAVID SCHMIDT PHOTO


processors, Berryhill focuses on IQF and the processing market rather than fresh sales. Phillips notes the Chinese market, which BC growers and processors have long coveted, is proving “not as lucrative as we hoped for.” China and South Korea still impose 30% duties on Canadian berries while allowing berries from Chile and Peru to enter duty-free, he said. The circumstances could


boost pressure on the BC blueberry sector as those areas continue to expand


production to serve Asia. “Peru has become the fastest


growing production area in the world,” Phillips says. “They’re growing by 200%.”


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