Massive greenhouse operators move into Ontario

KINGSVILLE — A couple of Ontario’s biggest greenhouse operations have been swallowed up this year by an arm of North America’s largest greenhouse operator, Cox Farms in the United States.

In November, Cox Farms’ brand Mucci Farms — part of the multi-billion-dollar Cox Enterprises empire — bought the 150-acre Greenhill Produce greenhouse in Chatham-Kent.

The move followed Mucci Farms’ purchase of another huge Chatham-Kent greenhouse — 160-acre Hacienda Farms — in May.

Terms of sale were not disclosed in either case.

Cox Farms, a Cox Enterprises subsidiary, is the biggest greenhouse operator in the U.S. and Canada. Mucci Farms accounts for 650 acres of Cox’s more than 700 acres of greenhouse space. Another Cox outfit, BrightFarms, holds the remainder.

Mucci’s latest Ontario acquisition, Greenhill Produce, was founded by the Geertsema family as just a 6-acre greenhouse in 2000.

“Having worked with the Mucci team for many years, the Geertsema family is proud to pass the torch to the Cox Farms and Mucci team, who share our values, passion, and drive to succeed,” Greenhill vice president and general manager Justin Geertsema said.

The new owner will continue cultivating bell peppers at the Greenhill facility near the small town of Kent Bridge.

Mucci Farms is a second-generation fruit and vegetable grower headquartered in Kingsville. It was acquired by Cox Farms in 2022. Cox’s buying spree of big Ontario greenhouses this year used Mucci as the purchase vehicle.

Ontario is a major and competitive player in greenhouse-grown fruits and vegetables. The produce grown in Ontario greenhouses generated nearly $1.7 billion in farm revenue in 2023, according to StatCan, with almost $1.5 billion of that revenue derived from exports to the United States. Ontario greenhouses accounted for over 72 % of the greenhouse space in Canada in 2023.

Cox’s recent greenhouse takeovers north of the border may stoke longstanding concerns over consolidating food production into fewer hands. More than 10 years ago, a greenhouse industry survey conducted by U.S.-based Greenhouse Grower magazine found nearly half of respondents were negative toward the trend of greenhouse company mergers or buy-outs by bigger players. It’s also a hot-button issue in agriculture generally: Billionaire Bill Gates’s controversial ownership of 275,000 acres of American farmland is the oft-cited ultimate example.

Cox does have a way to go before it becomes the biggest greenhouse operator in the world. That distinction is held by the Vicasol co-op in Spain with 4,448 greenhouse acres.