The Maan family has been operating Maan Farms – an agri-tourism hot spot in Abbotsford, B.C. – for three generations.Ethan Cairns/The Globe and Mail
For almost 50 years, Kris Maan – co-owner of Maan Farms, an agri-tourism spot in Abbotsford, B.C. – has been in the farming business.
Kris got into farming as a young man with his parents and siblings in 1977, four years after he moved to Canada from India, where his grandparents were farmers and his parents were teachers. When they immigrated to Canada, Kris’ parents were unable to continue their teaching careers, requiring them to explore other options and go back to their roots.
“Like any immigrant family does, we did whatever we needed – worked everywhere, all over the place,” Kris says.
For his father, one of those jobs included working in a cedar mill. But after experiencing health concerns from inhaling wood dust, Kris’ parents turned to farming and purchased two acres of land, before quickly acquiring more to mostly grow cole crops. Kris’ parents would then deliver the vegetables to packers, who would ship the produce to buyers.
By 1982, the family opened up their first roadside stall, selling berries directly to customers. “People loved it, and it excelled from there,” Kris says.
Kris Maan started farming in 1977, four years after he immigrated to Canada from India.Ethan Cairns/The Globe and Mail
The Maan family farm is one of the roughly 16,000 farms in operation across B.C. and one of 189,874 farms in Canada. Ninety-seven per cent are family-owned and operated, while nearly half have adopted at least one new or “significantly improved” product, service or practice, says national nonprofit Agriculture in the Classroom Canada. This type of farming innovation is critical for business growth, though it sometimes poses challenges for farmers looking to expand while preserving family traditions.
Over the years, the Maan family has pivoted their farming business – transitioning away from operating roadside stands to offering more experiential public attractions and activities, like goat yoga, go-karting and zip-lining. Maan Farms has also opened up its property as a wedding venue space and offers farm-to-table dining and fall treats, like pumpkin wine and double-pumpkin ice cream.
While Kris’ parents are retired, he currently runs the business with his wife, Devinder, and the help of their four adult children: Preena, Gurleen, Gaurav and Amir. All the Maan kids pursued post-secondary education and now use their knowledge in customer relations and marketing to give the farm a competitive edge, Kris says.
For example, Amir Maan – Kris and Devinder’s eldest son – pursued a degree in business and agriculture management, which he says emphasized entrepreneurial innovation. “I realized that for our farm to stand out, we needed to do more than traditional farming,” Amir says.
This desire for innovation led Amir to spearhead new attractions, like a scary corn maze and pumpkin patch displays – decisions that helped the Maans attract a wider customer base and create lasting memories for guests.
“My dad always gave me freedom to try new things,” Amir says, adding that his family appeared on the TV show Dragon’s Den to pitch their fruit winery earlier this year.
Earlier this year, Maan Farms appeared on the acclaimed TV show Dragon’s Den to pitch its fruit winery. Its raspberry-flavoured wine won ‘Best Fruit Wine of the Year’ in last year’s All Canadian Wine Championships.Ethan Cairns/The Globe and Mail
While Maan Farms has grown and changed over the years, it’s also grappled with maintaining its original family values and traditions. The company currently employs 30 regular staff throughout the year and nearly 250 shift workers during Maan Farms’ busiest season. But despite growth, Amir stresses the importance of family – an essential value of his Punjabi culture.
“It’s always about family,” he says. “It’s about working as hard as we can, but also about always having each other’s backs.”
As non-family members are hired by a business, Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich – an adjunct professor at Carleton University’s Department of Law and Legal Studies – says it’s important to involve those employees into conversations around family values to ensure everyone is on the same page. That’s because Bromwich has seen the consequences faced by family businesses that have failed to maintain consistent and open communication firsthand.
“A bit of flexibility and mindful, dedicated communication in advance can save massive amounts of money in lawyer fees and prevent serious consequences to businesses,” she says. “It is very sad when generational family businesses end on a sour note.”
For Maan Farms, family values were put to the test in 2014 after a large fire destroyed the farm facilities. “It was in the middle of the night in the middle of the season in July,” Amir says.
While it was a stressful event, the family pulled together to handle the disaster, and thanks to their support network, the Maans were able to rebuild the business and push it to the next level, expanding to offer year-round farm experiences.
“Without the community, we wouldn’t have been able to do what we did,” Amir adds.
The Maan family also makes regular communication a priority, which is why they meet over breakfast every Tuesday morning, where they discuss all relevant business matters – from buying nearby farm properties to new marketing tactics.
Maan Farms offers a wide variety of activities for patrons to choose from – whether it’s navigating a scary corn maze, trudging through a speckled pumpkin patch, practicing yoga with goats or ziplining.Ethan Cairns/The Globe and Mail
When it comes to the business, Amir says every sibling has their own strengths and weaknesses. “It’s about just letting people who are capable in some areas [do that work], and just kind of balancing it out.”
According to Bromwich, one of today’s biggest challenges for family businesses is the “profound generational shift” of Canada’s aging demographic. Baby boomers in the private sector are more likely to retire later, and they haven’t always thought about succession, she says.
As his parents look to retire, Amir acknowledges that there will be “some hard talks around the kitchen table.” However, Kris has high hopes for Maan Farms’ future, saying he is “pretty sure” it’ll be passed onto his children’s children.
“If my eyes close, and I’m not here, what we have given [the kids] over the years – they’re very smart,” Kris says. “My knowledge is different and limited. Their knowledge is abundant.”