Very few businesses are part of the “Half Century Club,” but Krause Berry Farms, Langley, BC, is in that small category. How did that happen? One berry at a time.

Krause Berry Farms has a very unique entrepreneurial success story. It started when Alf Krause planted one acre of strawberries in 1974. Today, husband and wife team Alf and Sandee Krause operate Krause Berry Farms & Estate Winery. It has expanded to over 200 acres growing and producing some of the Fraser Valley's best berries and vegetables.

Their mission is to grow the best quality food and encourage guests to participate in their food experience. They strive to do this by integrating new growing techniques with traditional methods, using the whole green farming approach, and implementing integrated pest management on their berry farm. During the summer, the farms have fresh berries and daily baking from the harvest kitchen.

The ELO Peer Advisory Group recently did a site visit at Krause Berry Farms followed by a fascinating Q&A with Alf and Sandee. One ELO Peer Advisory Group member, Dale Lutz, Fort Langley, BC, noted: "Yet another inspiring ELO PAG outing. Who knew you could learn so much business wisdom from a humble berry farm, but in retrospect, it should have been obvious — turning 1 acre of strawberries 50 years ago into a sought-after destination where people line up for hours to get waffles and milkshakes and dozens of other products doesn't just happen overnight. It takes hard work, perseverance, ingenuity, and character, and we got to see this in droves through the stories we heard."

There were a number of key takeaways from the Q&A with Alf and Sandee. They stressed the importance of customer care and excellence. Sandee emphasized that they are in the service business—they are creating an experience for visitors, most of whom have never visited a farm.

Another ELO Peer Advisory Group member, Brian Aitken, DWB Consulting, Prince George, BC, commented: “As always, another very worthwhile ELO event. I especially appreciated the value Krause Berry Farms puts on their employees and the stories of how they show God’s love through their business.”
Their Christian values are evident in the way they run their business, building good relationships with various stakeholders, from employees to suppliers. They have approximately 400,000 visitors per year.

The innovation at Krause Berry Farms over the years has been driven in two ways. First, Alf and Sandee are constantly thinking of new things they can do to leverage their existing assets and resources (which led to jam-making, an estate winery, etc.). Second, creative ideas also came from simply responding to challenges. They were not getting paid enough for their berries by the local co-op so they thought of ways to sell directly to consumers where they had more control over pricing.

One objective for Alf and Sandee is to create a viable business. They need to stretch out the growing season, picking strawberries from June to October. They have different products including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and tayberries.

They need to navigate government regulations, being in the Agricultural Land Reserve (restrictions on what can be built on the land) and dealing with the foreign workers program, which is absolutely critical to getting berries picked.

It is a challenging business, selling fresh berries that get beyond edible in a matter of weeks. They have a core of 50 year-round staff which expands to 200 over the summer. They try to have some signature items like their strawberry shortcake or berry waffles. Sandee even released a cookbook in conjunction with their 50th anniversary.

Alf and Sandee readily acknowledge that much of their success is as a result of the team they have assembled. Dale Lutz noted: "There were numerous inspirational stories shared, but the one that impacted me the most was the obvious love that Alf and Sandee have for their staff. The story of the care for their cancer-suffering employee was the best example of modern-day good Samaritan living that I've heard."

The ELO Peer Advisory Group visit was impactful. Christopher Wiebe, Equonos Capital Corp., Vancouver, BC, commented: “I think the biggest thing that stood out to me, aside from the incredible tenure of the business, was how much they cared for their employees! From the long-standing team members that they told stories of to the heart wrenching support that they offered to one of their guys when he found out he had cancer, even to the point of greeting the berry pickers in their native tongue as we walked by. It was clear that they wrestled with seeing everyone the way that Christ does, but it seemed that they lived out His love quite effectively, building a very sincere and deep community around themselves that was in turn successful!”

Overall the visit was an amazing glimpse into the dedication and commitment to grow a business. Success is often viewed as focused in a single direction over an extended period of time. That personifies the success of Alf and Sandee Krause. But, as they emphasized, the business is not primarily about making money. It is an outgrowth of their creative expression and a reflection of their faith-driven desire to impact people, from employees to customers.