Pressing or preserving, snacking or serving, fresh produce is a summer staple, and there’s no better place to get it than Marar Orchard in Cochrane!
Puneet Sandhu is the owner of Marar Orchard, a family-run company whose most recent business venture can be found down Railway Street in Cochrane.
“We have our fruit stand set up with fresh fruit and vegetables that we grow ourselves in Creston, British Columbia,” Puneet shares. “We have about 100 acres out there, run by my parents. I’ve come to Cochrane to open up a store, where we’re also looking to get feedback from our customers.”
Currently, their stall is stocked with kohlrabi, broccoli, onions, beets, rhubarb, corn, potatoes, cherries including Rainier, and strawberries. Marar Orchard is very strict about what chemicals do or do not get used on their fields, in hopes of growing the most flavorful and healthful produce. He notes that it’s been a rough year for stone fruit, grapes, and cherries, but otherwise harvests have been good.
“Once you taste these strawberries, and the most famous corn in Creston, you will never want to eat anything else!”
Due to the popularity of their strawberries in particular, Marar Orchard has recently pulled out nearly five acres of cherry trees to make room for more strawberry fields.
This company’s history within the area dates back a handful of decades. Puneet’s parents moved to Canada in the early 1990s, first living in Winnipeg, MB before coming to the Okanagan region to be closer to family. Born and raised in Osoyoos, BC, Puneet’s childhood was spent on a small family farm of approximately five acres. Outside of this farm, the family also had a restaurant.
“Me and my mom, we don’t like to sit inside,” Puneet recalls. “We decided that we wanted to do more farming. So we sold our restaurant and expanded our land slowly, very slowly, working together as a family. We built it up a good amount, and now we have a main location out in Creston, a grocery store in Cranbrook, and now we’re trying to do the same thing in Cochrane.”
Looking ahead, Puneet hopes that one day the fruit stand in Cochrane can expand to include a gazebo on its own lot, with a small kitchen in which to turn their produce into ready-made treats like pies and smoothies. All while continuing to sell fresh produce, of course.
With such great success west in British Columbia, some wonder why Marar Orchard made the move to Cochrane of all places.
“Honestly, I came out here because of my little sister – she wanted to be somewhere bigger than Creston.” Puneet continues. “So we came out here. When I saw the open space of Cochrane, the greenery, the mountains, it reminded me of home. I wanted to live here.”
The fruit stand will stay open until the end of the growing season, which is usually towards the end of September. Puneet hopes that conditions this year will allow them to stay open for a few additional weeks, potentially continuing to serve this community into October.
“We try to keep all our customers happy, and our business is very family friendly,” Puneet says. “Come by and give us a chance!”
The Marar Orchard fruit stand can be found in the House of Cars parking lot at 544 Railway Street in Cochrane. For more information, call Puneet at (250) 535-0645.
