Garth Mclean, President and General Manager of MCLEAN ORGANIC FOODS INC, is one of Western Canada’s food visionaries. His entrepreneurial nature, adventurous spirit and can-do work ethic, coupled with his commitment to integrity and honesty in relationships has helped Garth excel in his business ventures. .
Garth grew up in the Maritimes, in a large, closely knit family. Money and food were scarce. In 1986 Garth moved to British Columbia from New Brunswick, taking his first position in the industry as a Sales Rep for Kohlers European Sausages. He quickly advanced to management.
In 1992, Garth’s passion for people made him BC Sales Manager of Lilydale’s Value-Added Division. Working with a food scientist and certified sausage maker, Garth spearheaded development for many Lilydale products while building sales throughout Western Canada.
Something was missing. There was a disconnect between the food on his table, and where it came from. As Garth’s own sons grew, so did his conviction that a healthy diet makes a healthy family. Garth became more involved in BC’s natural foods industry, initially as a consumer.
In 2000, Garth’s career mushroomed—literally. Working as a consultant, he grew a small family-owned BC mushroom farm into one of Western Canada’s and the Western U.S.’s largest producers of specialty, organic and conventional mushrooms. As he launched various mushroom products Garth nurtured key food industry relationships, winning admiration for his expertise in distribution, logistics and product innovation.
While traveling to the US Garth noted that organic, natural and nitrite-free meats were available there. Why not, he wondered, in Canada? Driven by his core belief a company’s most important asset is its employees, Garth began realizing his dream of bringing healthy, nitrite-free meats to Canadian consumers.
Still a respected consultant in the mushroom industry, Garth continues to focus on growing the BC mushroom industry.
