A chain selling fresh local produce has come a long way since its humble beginnings four decades ago.
On Saturday, community members and local dignitaries gathered at Kin’s Farm Market in Richmond’s Blundell Centre to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
Founded by Chie Yau Leung and Chie Wen Leung, the grocer started off as an eight-foot table at Granville Public Market in 1983.
The Leungs emigrated from China in 1981 with their three children — Kin Fun, Kin Wah and Kin Hun.
They would later open the grocer’s first permanent location in Blundell Centre in 1987.
“My grandparents literally came to Canada with nothing but pocket change and lived in the attic of a house in the Hastings Sunrise community,” said grandson Victor Lau.
“They were extremely hard-working, diligent, and steadfast, working odd jobs at restaurants and as dishwashers while learning English at Vancouver Community College.
“But it wasn’t until they visited Granville Island Public Market that their lives forever changed.”
Now under its third generation of leadership with Lau at the helm, Kin’s has expanded to 23 stores throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley and employs almost 300 people.
Kin’s received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2009 for business to consumers, and Kin Wah Leung was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 in recognition of his achievements.
The local grocer has also been paying it forward by working with local organizations including the University of British Columbia Endowment Fund, B.C. Children’s Hospital, Richmond Hospital Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society and S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
“We’re truly proud to be a local community grocer selling fresh produce and inspiring a better quality of life in our communities for decades to come, which is not only our purpose statement for the company but also what inspired our family to move to Canada,” said Lau.
