BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
/KIN’S FARM MARKET
The Biggest Little Produce Store in B.C.
With two locations in the West End, Kin’s Farm Market is a frequent destination for folks looking for fresh, locally sourced produce. The low-key and homey atmosphere of both stores may make you to feel that you are shopping in a hyper-local corner store.
CO-FOUNDER KIN WAH AND DENMAN STREET STORE MANAGER JENNY.
Would you be surprised to learn that our neighbourhood Kin’s are two of 23 outlets, with stores across Metro Vancouver?
Kin’s is a Canadian-owned produce retailer with both corporate and franchise locations, as near as Davie or Denman, and as far up the valley as Chilliwack. Their proclaimed mission is “to be a leader in specialty produce through a family-team environment by delivering freshness, offering unique customer service, promoting healthy lifestyles, and providing rewarding careers.”
More than forty years ago Chie Yau Leung and his wife Chie Wen Leung were offered a chance of a new life in “Gold Mountain” (inspired by the gold rush, this was the translated Chinese name for British Columbia, California, and Australia). Sponsored by Chie Wen’s sister, the couple chose to pursue a better future for their three children: Kin Wah, Kin Hun, and Kin Fun.
The Chinese character “kin” means “to build,” and build, they did.
The family converted their savings from Chinese yuan to Hong Kong dollars in order to purchase the necessities for their relocation. Almost penniless, the family arrived in Vancouver in 1981; their air tickets purchased with money borrowed from Chie Wen’s sister. They rented the attic of a house in an area now called Hastings Sunrise and the hardworking and ambitious family immediately began to carve out their new life. Chie Yau and his youngest son Kin Hun worked as dishwashers, while Kin Wah and his sister Kin Fun worked in Chinatown restaurants, and matriarch Chie Wen found work as a babysitter.
Soon they began learning English at Vancouver Community College.
Busiest Produce Stand on Granville Island
IT ALL BEGAN AT AN 8-FOOT TABLE IN GRANVILLE ISLAND MARKET.
By 1983, the Kin family were ready to launch their own business. They began with an 8-foot-long produce table at Granville Island Market, where they carried fewer than 20 products. All five members of the family worked at the market, became familiar with local farmers and traveled to their farms to personally select the produce.
This dedication to supporting local farmers remains a priority to this day. It was at the Granville Island Market that the current director and VP of operations, Queenie Chu, came into the picture. Initially hired as a cashier to help out with the growing business, she is still with Kin’s to this day.
Expansion began four years later when the siblings took a leap of faith and opened a brick and mortar location in Richmond in 1987. Three years after the opening of the flagship store, the siblings attended the “Small Business” course at Vancouver Community College. The Hon. Alice Wong, MP who organized the course, was their teacher at the time and later became their mentor. After completion of the business course, the family decided they had gained enough insight from the successes and failures of their first store to take a calculated risk and opened store number two in Ladner in 1990.
The Davie Street location opened in 2004, and Denman Street in 2014.
As luck would have it, in early 2000’s, the family became acquainted with Roger Gillespie of COBS Bread when he decided to expand his company to Canada. He soon took Kin’s under his wing and offered invaluable mentorship as Kin’s Farm Market began to emerge as the first independent local green grocer chain in British Columbia.
The Leung family feels fortunate to have crossed paths with so many mentors and credits much of Kin’s Farm Market’s success to their generous support. The family models COBS company commitment of giving back to local communities as a means of paying it forward.
Over years, Kin’s stores, founders and directors have received numerous awards for business excellence, being voted top choice by the readers of many – if not all – local publications in the communities they serve. In 2018, Kin Wah Leung received recognition through the 2018 RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Awards on account of his outstanding accomplishments and contributions to society across Canada for the past ten years. In 2013, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his achievements through Kin’s Farm Market in the past 25 years. And in 2009, the Kin’s board of directors was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) Award in the Business-to-Consumer category.
Over the decades, Kin’s has been a supporter of many local community groups, dedicated to bringing about positive changes in the areas of wellness, healthy eating, and sustainable living.
Over the years Kin’s has made substantial financial contributions to numerous causes and essential services. They’ve supported the BC Children’s Hospital Endowment, the Richmond Hospital Foundation, S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’s annual Walk With the Dragon event in Stanley Park, the Richmond Sharing Farm, and the Canadian Cancer Society. They also fund an award for a UBC graduate student who is pursuing their M.Sc or PhD in Food Science with a focus on food safety, extended shelf life of produce, or produce and human health.
That’s the story of the little corner produce stall that could, and how 40 years later they continue to thrive and give back. Think about that the next time you pop by for a basket of those big, sweet blueberries, crisp apples, or whatever else you need to create tonight’s dinner. You are part of their story too.
