Fonds MS 51;1979.076;1979.096;1981.090;1982.016 - Bulmans Ltd. fonds

Bulmans Ltd. had its origin in 1916 at Cloverdale Ranch near Kelowna. Thomas Bulman owned the ranch and formed a partnership with his son to run it. Putting a processing plant on the 4000-acre ranch guarded against seasonal surplus production. By 1926, production had outgrown the processing facilites and the plant moved to Vernon. In 1928, fire wiped out the dehydrator. Only half of the value was covered by insurance. The citizens of Vernon rallied behind the firm, raising $25,000 and receiving Bulmans stocks in return. After rebuilding the plant, Bulmans added canning to the dehydrating. During the 1930s, Bulmans worked with the Summerland Experimental Farm testing seeds, fertilizers, and methods of cultivation. In 1937, two boilers were added to the plant, making Bulmans the largest steam generating plant in the Okanagan Valley. War demands for increased production, particularly in dehydration, enabled the company to expand further. A general storage warehouse was built in 1940. By 1942, Bulmans was the largest producer of dehydrated vegetables in Canada. In 1945, Bulmans made refrigeration lockers available for the general public. After the war, the dehydration business continued, but at a lower level as Bulmans supplied prospectors and mining companies in Northern Canada. The dehydration side of the business ended in 1950, after which time canning and freezing became their major production. Bulmans was ahead of the market in regard to freezing, finding that supermarkets were not equipped qith large enough freezers to handle the food produced. During the 1950s and 1960s, the company supplied bulk frozen vegetables to manufacturers of other products, such as soup. By the late 1960s, the supermarkets had finnaly installed freezers with enough capacity to hold frozen food from suppliers such as Bulmans. Bulmans continued in the canning and freezing business until 1976, when they closed their doors. A combination of limited water supply, high freight costs, and increased competition from large, high-yield California producers were cited as the reasons for their demise.