Resiliency.
You must have it to succeed in the produce industry, especially as a grower. For Randhawa Farms, known for its Perpetual Vegetable Co. brand, it’s a pivotal differentiating factor that has taken the family operation from humble beginnings to partners with Oppy.
“There are so many different businesses and structures, and now you see a lot of hedge funds involved in finance and greenhouse, but we’re not one of those companies. We don’t have investors; it’s a purely family-owned farm business. Our family has been running things from one acre to a hundred acres today,” says Vijay Randhawa, Business Director, with pride. “I was nine years old when we first built our greenhouse, and we would mix fertilizer by hand because we didn’t have motorized agitators in our fertilizer tanks. We didn’t have forklifts; we didn’t have five-ton trucks. We would deliver our peppers in a pickup truck and take five loads daily. So I think that makes us a little different—our whole family worked together to build the company one acre at a time.”
Vijay’s father, Kan, immigrated to Canada from India in the late 1970s. He started as a farm worker before purchasing his own land to build the greenhouse operation they have today.
The journey of Randhawa Farms began in 1994 with Kan’s first greenhouse, which covered three acres of the family’s farm residence. At first, the Randhawa family was growing in sawdust. As kids, Vijay and his brothers would pitch in, helping their dad build the operation from the ground up.
“…our whole family worked together to build the company one acre at a time.”
Vijay Randhawa, Business Director, Randhawa Farms
“I used to fake illness at school just to help fill sawdust bags. I’m not sure how I got away with it,” Vijay tells me with a laugh as he recalls his childhood days spent amongst the crops. “As kids, we would build forts in the sawdust bags, running extension cords into the caves we built to have light to play Dungeons and Dragons. We’d also construct forts and have bell pepper fights with unmarketable products, using bags to make jumps for our dirt bikes. Though our dad wasn’t usually happy with the mess we made, he allowed it.”
As the company grew from sawdust into the greenhouse facility it is today, Perpetual Vegetable Co. formed a key partnership with Oppy in 2013, and in 2019, the pair began building the company’s brand using the positioning line, “Life grows on.”
“We’re immensely proud of our partnership with Randhawa Farms. As they mark their 30-year journey in the industry, we look back on an incredible decade of collaboration between Oppy and Randhawa Farms, which we clinked glasses to just last year,” Kevin Batt, Oppy’s Category Director of Greenhouse, relays, looking back on the progress the pair has made over more than a decade together. “Their commitment to sustainability and excellence is truly exceptional. Randhawa’s innovative greenhouse technologies ensure top-quality produce and reflect their dedication to environmental stewardship. Working alongside such a deeply committed family operation is a privilege—we share a unified vision of delivering superior produce and service to our customers.”
For Randhawa Farms and its Perpetual Vegetable Co. brand, its products are vital to the continuity of the company’s life cycle. The process goes beyond simply producing cucumbers and peppers and is almost spiritual in the connection between people and the earth.
This deep connection also extends to the company’s workforce, which is more like an extension of the family than simply employees.
“People aren’t a number to us; we like to keep a family feel. They have a sense of security when working with us and deal with all of us like brothers daily,” Vijay explains. “Because it’s a smaller company, we try to do things to make work more fun, and we like to keep the kid alive in ourselves. We want a nice, peaceful, lighthearted environment with happy people.”
Part of this stems from Randhawa Farms’ recruiting process, which brings people from countries facing challenges, danger, and poverty to an environment where they can embrace their passion for produce.
“Our main principle is to hire people who have a connection to plants because that’s where the majority of their efforts go,” adds Vijay. “We have great success finding them in farming communities—our team members are hard workers with green thumbs and calloused hands.”
At Randhawa Farms, helping people overcome struggle is important because it is something that the family themselves understand. As proof of just how resilient the members of this clan are, Vijay explains that in the early 2000s, they were faced with the possibility of losing the farm and their home. Instead of laying down and accepting their fate, he and his brothers came together to fight for the company and the dream their father had kept alive all those years. Ultimately, it paid off, leading them to become the successful greenhouse operation they are today.
“Randhawa’s innovative greenhouse technologies ensure top-quality produce and reflect their dedication to environmental stewardship.”
Kevin Batt, Category Director of Greenhouse, Oppy
“The world is a tough place, but there’s beauty in every story and in the products we grow,” Vijay lays out. “We had to become fighters and battle for our farm. We are relentless in our pursuit of keeping the family tradition alive for our kids. To create a better world however we can. To respect our customers and end consumers by providing quality products at an affordable price; to respect our peers and environment; to innovate all aspects of our business operations, we must maintain the integrity our parents taught us. To be good people and not do anyone any harm. But most importantly, we all need to keep the kid in us alive, have fun, and be light-hearted. Life is short, and the magic is in the struggles and the success. Just enjoy the journey.”
From Randhawa Farms’ first acre to its hundredth, resiliency has shaped the business and workforce. This quality is crucial not only in produce but also in partnerships. For those lucky enough to work with Perpetual Vegetable Co., their products are not just a symbol of quality but of dedication to the plant, the people, and the planet. If you embrace this family’s outlook, you, too, can find wonder in every day. 
