In Memoriam: Burnbrae Farms co-founder Joe Hudson

Joe Hudson, co-founder of Burnbrae Farms, has passed away. He was 94 years old.

Hudson, who was recognized as a Grocery Business Hall of Fame Legend in 2021, founded Burnbrae Farms with his brother Grant. At the age of 13, he, along with his father Arthur and brother Grant, began a school project of raising 50 chickens and the business grew from there.

Hudson is the recipient of many awards for marketing excellence, innovation in egg processing and product development and community support. Among them, in 2001, he was received the Golden Pencil Award. In 2007, he was presented with the “We Care Hall of Fame Award” from the Canadian Food Service Industry. In 2012, he was inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame. Most recently, in February 2023, he received the Lifetime Business Achievement Award from the Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce. The same chamber also recognized Hudson as Business Person of the Year in 2005.

He was a generous supporter of communities and gave of his time, expertise and money. Hudson was know for his passion and commitment to feeding people and supported causes like Operation Harvest Sharing, now known as the Brockville Foodbank. In addition to his support of the Brockville General Hospital and Brockville YMCA, he co-founded a softball league in the area and for many years chaired the Hudson Burnbrae Foundation, which continues to support causes important to the family.

Margaret Hudson, Joe Hudson’s daughter and the president and CEO of Burnbrae Farms, who began to work with her father full time starting in 1990 for more than 20 years, says he was a visionary, “a leader, a mentor, and a trusted friend to family and many at Burnbrae Farms and in our community. He loved our family, the village of Lyn and he loved the company he built, Burnbrae Farms.”