Looking back on 15 years of packing your baskets.

Fifteen years ago, we set out to change the way cities eat…then we had to figure out how to get all that food into your baskets.

Home to your baskets and everything you see on the Marketplace, our distribution centre has gone through quite the glow-up over the past 15 years. In the beginning, it was just a space to sort the vegetables harvested from our very first rooftop greenhouse into boxes. Thanks to a few moves, a stronger team, and a couple upgrades along the way, today it stands as an extremely efficient model that can grow with us. 

Looking back…

In the early days, the operation moved at a slower pace and in much tighter corners. Orders were whispered into our ears through headphones, as team members paraded around with carts full of veggies to fill the rows of cardboard boxes - the first version of today’s iconic reusable bins. Cherry tomatoes were even sold individually, forcing us to count each (yes, one at a time!) before adding them to baskets. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for our 200 weekly orders. And it laid the foundation of what came next.

As our community grew, so did the demand…and our vision. New greenhouses sprouted across the city, local growers and foodmakers joined our network, and it quickly became clear that we had to start thinking on a much larger scale. Originally tucked under our first rooftop greenhouse in Ahuntsic, our distribution centre was moved in 2019 to a more spacious home: beneath our Ville Saint-Laurent greenhouse (still under construction at the time). Over the years it became the link between our urban farms, our local partners, and your weekly baskets. 

Our new era

We learned, adapted, and slowly transformed our once makeshift setup into a fully developed operation. In 2019, we expanded upwards, claiming more space that would house both our larger distribution centre and growing team all under one roof. And today with upwards of 35,000 orders to fill, instead of bringing food to the boxes, we do the reverse with baskets traveling to the products. 

No backtracking, no wasted time - just a carefully orchestrated system built for speed, accuracy, and keeping everything fresh. Each morning, our team members make their way throughout the different zones starting in the freezer, both fridges, and finally the room temperature pantry. Between 12 and 16 baskets are packed at a time using a cart and our custom-built app that maps out the most efficient route. 

It took 15 years of refining our approach, trialling new tools, and leaning on the know-how of a deeply committed team. From the very beginning, we’ve been driven by a desire to do things right - even if we had to start with the basics. Over time, that determination has translated into smarter facilities, custom-designed systems, and an operational model that continues to evolve to this day.

As it stands today, our distribution centre may seem like a finely tuned machine, but at its core, it remains a means to a bigger goal: getting fresh, local, responsible food into the hands of our Lufavores every single week. And while we can’t say for certain what this space will look like in 15 more years, what we do know is that we’ll keep moving forward, improving, and reimagining what’s possible - always with the same mission in mind.