De Dreu Farms is a family owned cruciferous vegetable farm located outside of Ingersoll, Ontario. The farm began in 1979 when a Dutch immigrant family bought an asparagus farm and transformed it into a cabbage, broccoli and kale farm. Kees de Dreu, the oldest son, worked on the family farm in Holland growing sugar beets and potatoes from a young age. With the rise in industry in Holland, the family was forced to sell their farm and they decided to immigrate to Canada and continue farming there.

In 1983 Kees met his lovely wife, Anita, who was a public health nurse and also from a multigenerational Dutch farming family. Her father was one of the founding owners of the Huron Tractor John Deere dealership, ingraining a passion for farm entrepreneurship. After Kees and Anita got married, they bought a pig farm nearby where Kees still occasionally helped out with the vegetables. They struggled in the pig farming industry for 20 years until they decided they needed to look at another industry to make a living. In 2004, Kees and Anita bought the vegetable farm from Kees’s parents and ever since they have worked to expand the farm, improve the farming practices, and grow the best quality cabbage and kale possible for consumers.

Currently, De Dreu Farms offers its customers a selection of various cabbage varieties and kale. Ensuring their customers have high-quality, safe vegetables is De Dreu Farm’s priority and the farm is CANADA GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certified with a food-safety program in place. The farm delivers product all over Ontario to grocery stores, restaurants, wholesalers and farmers markets as well as being exported to the United States.

OUR VALUES

De Dreu Farms values family, quality, taste and sustainability. On the farm we aim to produce great-tasting, nutrient-dense vegetables in a sustainable way for local families to enjoy for generations. The De Dreu Family not only brought over their knowledge in growing popular Dutch vegetables from Holland, but they also brought over their European farming traditions in biological farming. Kees and Anita both value the environment and aim to protect our soil health for future generations by using sustainable farming practices in their day-to-day operations. To learn more about the De Dreu Family’s commitment to its customers and the environment, click below.

OUR FAMILY

Kees and Anita have 4 beautiful children who have helped out on the farm in the summers when not in school. Health has always been a priority in the De Dreu family – growing nutritious vegetables and cooking with whole foods together.

Our oldest daughter has a degree in Foods & Nutrition (Western University) and is currently working as a Naturopathic doctor in the Woodstock and St. Catharine’s area where she lives with her husband. Our youngest daughter is currently running the on-farm office after graduating from Fanshawe with an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration. Our eldest son is an electrician and married a lovely girl from Manitoba who is Naturopathic doctor as well. And our younger son has graduated from Huron University, and is working as an accountant and on the farm. He hopes to further the vision of De Dreu Farms in the food processing area with his parents and sister in the future.

Kees and Anita love their farm and their kids, and look forward to passing on a thriving farm to their kids and future generations to come.

Click the link above to learn more about our commitment to food safety and sustainable agriculture.