November 2023 - 15

COVER STORY
B
eth Hubbard is not one to shy away from
assessing a situation and making changes.
She did so after 28 years as an executive in the
automotive industry, moving back to her family's farm.
Since then, Hubbard has transitioned Corey Lake
Orchards' business model from a commodity/truck
farm to an agritourism destination.
The incoming president of the Michigan State
Horticultural Society (MSHS), Hubbard is president
of the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm
Market EXPO (GLEXPO) board and heads the
planning board of the 2023 event, Dec. 5-7 in
Grand Rapids, Michigan.
A return to the farm
Hubbard's parents, Dayton and Allene,
purchased the farm in 1961 when she was five
years old. Although growing up on a farm left
a huge impression on her, she and her three
sisters didn't return there after college. Beth
Hubbard took a job with General Motors after
graduating from Michigan State University.
She worked for the company - the largest in
the world at the time - and its subdivisions for
almost three decades. Although she found working
there to be fulfilling, the financial crises of the
2000s made the work stressful. In 2008, Hubbard was
working for GM spinoff Delphi, which was in bankruptcy
proceedings, and her mind was on the farm.
Allene Hubbard, who handled the marketing for the
farm, died of cancer in 2005.
" I ended up leaving (my automotive career) mostly
because I felt the need to be back on the farm was greater
than my finishing up the next couple of years (at Delphi),
with the farm really needing a marketing presence. It
needed that to keep going, " Beth Hubbard said.
She moved back to Three Rivers in 2008, and saw the
need to learn the horticultural side of the business as well.
" So I started following my Dad around for several
years, learning everything I could, and got my
horticultural degree from his 'hands-on school,' you
could say. "
IT HAS BEEN A TRULY REWARDING
EXPERIENCE FOR ME TO LEARN
FROM OTHERS ON THE BOARD.
I LOVE THAT AS A TEAM, WE
HAVE SUCH VARIED FARMS AND
BACKGROUNDS WHICH HELPS ALL OF
US TO ADVANCE THE FRUIT INDUSTRY
WITH THE WORK OF MSHS.
- Beth Hubbard
Beth Hubbard, left, and her sister Brenda co-own
and manage Corey Lake Orchards. Their calling
to carry on the family farm came after pursuing
corporate careers. Photos by Kim Baker.
The transition from a corporate position to life on the
farm was seamless.
" It was really clear that after I came back that my
heart had always been in this business, in farming, "
Hubbard said.
In 2016, her sister, Brenda Hubbard (co-owner of Corey
Lake Orchards), became involved again as well, updating
the website and social media posts and scheduling u-pick
visits from her home in Florida, among other duties. In the
fall, Brenda returns to the farm to help in person.
Changes at Corey Lake Orchards
Beth Hubbard said she saw a need to change the
farm's outdated business model, letting the commodities
set the ups and downs of the operation: grow a lot and
sell what you can.
While that had been a successful model at one time,
families weren't buying by the bushel anymore. Canning,
cooking and baking weren't the common drivers of fruit
and vegetable sales.
" That was the business model and I think small family
farms like this one, we all ended up having to re-adjust to
the customer not buying bushels anymore, " Hubbard said.
FRUITGROWERSNEWS.COM | 15
http://www.FRUITGROWERSNEWS.COM
November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2023
