The Downey Difference

Since 1924, the Downey family has been growing, storing, packing and distributing some of Ontario’s best potatoes. Now in our fourth generation of business, the Downey family has built a strong reputation across the province - and beyond - as a premiere potato growing operation.

That inaugural generation in the early 1920s gave way to their successors in 1950, who held onto the farm until 1974 when the third generation took over operations of our sprawling farm located just north of Shelburne.

Today, the fourth Downey generation continues to uphold the impressive quality and success of our forefathers with a determined dedication to providing only the freshest varieties of table stock potatoes in Ontario.

Employing more than 30 area residents, Downey Farms has been a staple in the community, and a provider of top-notch potatoes province-wide, for years. With our transformation into Ontario’s most modern, state-of-the-art potato facility, Downey Farms is the only source for the freshest and best potatoes Ontario has to offer.

Food Safey & Quality Program

We take great pride in our potatoes. To ensure our product’s quality and to give our consumers peace of mind, we are currently working on our Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification, an internationally recognized system for controlling food safety.

Land

Downey Farms is located just north of Shelburne, home to some of Ontario’s finest fertile fields. Utilizing the sandy and silt loam soil, Downey Farms is situated on land perfectly suited for growing potatoes.

Shelburne’s location within Ontario offers ideal growing conditions and a great climate for agriculture operations. Being the highest point in the province, Shelburne provides for good drainage to ensure a high quality product.
State of the Art Technology

With so much already invested in our operation, we've opted to bring our facility to the leading edge with today's modern technology. Now, as a result, Downey Farms is the premiere potato farming operation in Ontario with modern, state-of-the-art equipment for harvesting, storing, packaging and distribution.

Integration

Unlike our competitors, Downey Farms operates an integrated system which allows for the complete process to be carried out right on our property. Utilizing modern technology allows us to provide the freshest and best products to the consumer in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

As well, it enables us to offer better value and more control to procurement specialists due to the fact they deal with one company that is responsible for the entire supply chain. In fact, in some cases, Downey Farms is able to process and ship a customer’s order in a single day, meaning there is no wait time for the buyer which translates into a fresh and delicious product for the consumer.

Shipping

Included in the Downey Farms program is a fleet of climate-controlled, refrigerated trucks which provides assurances that products shipped from our facility will arrive on-time and in the freshest possible condition available through today’s technology.

And, due to our central location in Ontario, most major urban centres are a little more than one hour away from our facility. From our Shelburne area location, we can transport a load of potatoes to Toronto in one hour and 15 minutes; Cambridge or Whitby can be reached in 90 minutes; and Barrie in less than half-an-hour.