VANCOUVER, B.C.  — When Mayor Sam Sullivan of Vancouver, B.C. proclaimed July 12 as a special day to honour David Oppenheimer, the city’s second mayor and founder of The Oppenheimer Group, the company decided to pay tribute this innovative pioneer with an event worthy of his memory.

At a ceremony in Vancouver’s landmark Stanley Park — which Mayor Oppenheimer dedicated and opened in 1888 — his life was remembered during speeches by city officials, a noted local historian, members of his family, and John Anderson, chairman, president and CEO of The Oppenheimer Group.

“David Oppenheimer was a driving force in creating the foundation for Vancouver to become the thriving city it is today,” said Anderson. “He is known by many as ‘The Father of Vancouver.’ Our city was incorporated in 1886, so when Mayor Oppenheimer took office in 1888 he focused first on building its infrastructure, and taking care of the residents’ basic needs by creating the water works, establishing a lighting company, initiating street paving and sidewalks, and founding the fire department. He also donated his own land so schools and parks could be built.”

As mayor, David Oppenheimer was also passionate about making the city an international port of call. As the first president of the Vancouver Board of Trade, a position awarded to him in November 1887, he wrote about fostering trade with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, and of the fundamental need to both import and export goods — especially produce. He also worked with the Canadian Pacific Railway, which had recently chosen Vancouver as its western terminus, to establish direct shipping routes between Vancouver, Japan and Australia. Japanese mandarins and Australian onions were among the early items to travel to Canada in this manner.

“There’s a saying among those of us who have worked in the fruit and vegetable industry for a long time — we say that ‘produce is in our blood’,” Anderson said in his address at the ceremony. “We are inexplicably drawn into the colorful and intensely complex world of fruit and vegetable production and marketing. While Mayor Oppenheimer had numerous other passions, I believe produce was in his blood, too.”

Among Mayor Oppenheimer’s many accomplishments in his four terms as mayor was the establishment of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association in 1888. This group acknowledged the need for strategic produce marketing which would assure that gluts were avoided, waste was reduced, and growers were fairly rewarded for their efforts. As a result, Oppenheimer Brothers (as The Oppenheimer Group was then known) opened a canning and evaporation facility, so fruits and vegetables that could not be sold fresh could be preserved and sold profitably later.

At the association’s first meeting that year, Mayor Oppenheimer encouraged local producers to “spread everywhere the necessity of cultivation, more planting, growing only the best varieties, and buying and selling honestly.”

“These words still ring true for us at The Oppenheimer Group as we celebrate our 150^th anniversary,” Anderson said. “Through partnerships with growers here and around the world, we do our best to offer our customers only the best-tasting, best-quality varieties, and that we bring them to market in a manner that is respectful to the planet and benefits the various stakeholders along the supply chain.”

Founded by David Oppenheimer and his brothers in 1858, The Oppenheimer Group is recognized by the Vancouver Historical Society as the oldest continuously operating company in British Columbia. 

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