Family-owned orchard has deep roots in New Brunswick community

MEMRAMCOOK, N.B. -

The Verger Belliveau Orchard in Memramcook, N.B. has deep roots within the Bourgeois family.

Robert Bourgeois spent his entire childhood on the farm after his parents purchased the orchard in 1967, but the history goes back even further than that. His father’s uncle originally started the orchard in 1932.

“They hired my father in 1956 to manage the orchard, which he knew nothing about. He was a former dairy farmer, but he learned,” said Bourgeois.

Bourgeois took over the family business in 2008 and helped build it to what it is today. He says running an orchard is a lot more work than most think. Farmers often have to plan their planting years in advance.

“In an orchard, it takes two to three years to order trees, get the land ready, and then another four years before you get a crop. So, you’re seven years down the road, in an orchard that people may not like the variety you planted.”

Thousands of trees, spanning across more than 90-acres of land, produce 25 different varieties of apples at the orchard, with even more in the works.

“Usually over 1,200 trees per acre on trellises, so that’s what we’re planting more every year…averaging about 5-6 thousand trees per year that we’re trying to add,” says Belliveau project manager, Guy Gautreau.

Gautreau has worked at the orchard for nearly a decade.

“I was lucky to arrive here the year that they started planting trees with machinery. Had I started the previous year, I would have probably been tasked with planting a whole bunch of trees with shovels.”

The fall harvest season is the busiest time for workers at the orchard.

“We store apples and we pack apples, and we ship apples. So September to October, I call it organized chaos,” laughed Bourgeois.

That chaos has ultimately paid off. Bourgeois says the orchard served a sparkling juice at a French convention in Memramcook 22 years ago that ended up being a big hit.

“The following Monday we started getting orders and it was out of control, we couldn’t even keep up. It took us about a year to make enough product to keep up with the demand,” says Bourgeois.

Since that success, their product list has only grown. Now the wholesaler offers a selection of wine, craft ciders, juice and even honey, all made from their own apples.

Bourgeois says he has plans to retire in the coming months, after his 65th birthday, but he hopes to pass the family business down to one of his three children.

“I’m going to retire if everything goes well, but anything can happen. I don’t mind staying either, but yes I would like to get the new blood in.”

Proving the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.