Lucan farm market looks to expand after first winter

Tina Gokstorp, owner of the Good Food Farm Market, stands in front of her store in Lucan, where she sells a mixture of her own chicken products and a selection of goods from other local farms.

By Dan Rolph

A new farm market in Lucan is looking forward to a year of expansion and growth as it aims to bring high-quality products from its own farm to the region.

The Good Food Farm Market was opened by owner Tina Gokstorp in November 2025 in the building that once housed The Hub and MJ’s Roadhouse.

Gokstorp stepped into the realm of farming in 2022 when she bought a farm in Ailsa Craig alongside her father. Since then, she’s become the sole owner of that farm.

“I don’t have a background as a farmer,” Gokstorp said. “It was a lifestyle property for us. My dad grew up on a farm in Sweden and wanted to move out into the country, and I wanted to move out into the country, so we bought it together.”

Though she doesn’t have an extensive farming background, Gokstorp said she did have some experience in small-scale chicken farming, which led to her decision to establish her farm with a focus on poultry.

“Chickens are a good entry product,” she said. “They’re a low capital cost, and they’re a pretty quick return.”

Looking to provide a wide selection for customers, Gokstorp started offering value-added products such as pre-marinated kebabs, chicken pot pie, seasoned chicken burgers and chicken noodle soup, though she has relied on renting commercial kitchen space to create those products.

“We love the products that we offer now,” said Gokstorp. “They’re working. People love them, we get a lot of repeat business, it’s unique, they’re delicious and it’s a higher-quality chicken.”

Gokstorp said she hadn’t originally planned to expand into the business of running a farm store, but when Lucan Biddulph started looking for bidders to rent the property it had acquired with the plans of one day expanding the neighbouring arena, she jumped at the opportunity — especially as she could make use of the former restaurant’s kitchen space.

Since opening, Gokstorp has been working to refurbish the space to suit her needs. With one of her top priorities being getting the kitchen in a usable state, she said she hopes to start creating her already popular offerings there, as well as expand into other products that could be purchased both in the store and in the markets she frequents.

“This space allows us to put in a production kitchen,” she said. “Because we do a lot of markets in Toronto, the store allows us to offer our products to customers locally, and we see the potential for cottage traffic stopping in on their way to Grand Bend, Goderich and Bayfield.”

With her eyes on having a production kitchen functional by the end of May, Gokstorp said she also hopes to further expand beyond chicken, particularly as she begins exploring market farming.

Gokstorp said she also wants to begin selling baked goods made in house.

“You can’t be a self-respecting farm store without selling butter tarts,” she said. “I feel like that’s just part of the culture.”

While she is committed to growing both her farm and the farm store, Gokstorp said she also intends to continue supporting other farms by offering their products to customers who are seeking local goods.

“We want to support other small farms who are in the same position as we were, where you can’t afford a store,” she said. “You’re not really big enough to support the large retailers, so the small farm stores are a good partner.”