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Greenhouse vegetable sector to propose business model for its own marketing commission
from The Grower July 2023
by The Grower
British Columbia’s greenhouse vegetable sector has evolved so much in size, production and marketing practices that it has little in common with field vegetable growers. Its 2022 farmgate value was $328.5 million. That’s why the BC Greenhouse Growers’ Association (BCGGA) helmed by pepper grower Armand Vander Meulen, is suggesting a different governance mechanism that would remove it from the umbrella of the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission (BCVMC).
To date, the Commission operates with nine commissoners, three of whom are greenhouse growers, specifically Armand Vander Meulen, John Newell and Michael Minerva. As Linda Delli Santi, BCGGA executive director, explains, “The strategic plan has brought this issue forward to be a focus for 2023. It’s not a case of any dissatisfactory working relationship but an issue of being in charge of our own destiny.”
To date, the role of the BCVMC is to regulate the orders of provincial legislation for certain storage,
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The BCVMC website explains: Centralized, coordinated marketing of regulated product is achieved by requiring producers to market regulated product grown by them through marketing agencies designated by the Commission (“Designated Agencies”). Agencies harness the collective marketing power of producers and are the means by which the Commission achieves its main policy objective of maximizing producer returns.
The cost of operating a separate commission is yet to be researched. Currently, the annual levy is 15 cents/square meter, earmarked for BCGGA research and industry development. An additional levy goes towards BCVMC operating expenses. Delli Santi says that next steps are to consult with the provincial agriculture minister Pam Alexis and to investigate a cost-effective business model.
