So, when he left the government about 10 years ago to kick start a bean processing company, he made it a personal goal to sell soybeans to the Japanese.

He flew to Tokyo where he met with the agricultural specialist at the Canadian embassy. In one afternoon he received a short list of companies that fit his production capabilities and picked up a few contracts.

That was seven years ago. Today his export market accounts for 75 per cent of his business – he even sub-contracts with other processors to meet demand – and most of his export market is to Japan.

"I heard that it was a difficult country to deal with but once you have a relationship with them it is a long lasting one." He spent a long time building trust. Now Japanese buyers send delegates to his farm for annual visits. In late November Hendrick organized a social gathering with one group of Japanese and many of his growers. "They want more of these meetings," Hendrick said.

This year’s shipping season, from October to June, 2003, Hendrick Seeds will have shipped close to 10,000 tonnes of soybeans to Japan to fill its insatiable market for tofu and a breakfast product called natto. Last year he shipped 6,000 tonnes.

Meantime, he and about 150 soybean producers work together to exploit this market. There were only 15 growers two years ago. His own farm has 1,100 acres.

The producers all grow non-GMO soybeans because that’s all the Japanese are willing to buy and at a premium price.

Business has grown so quickly for Hendrick, he had to erect a larger warehouse, now two years old, and new equipment, including a scanner that uses a spray of air to spit out off-colored beans. His wife, Carolyn, acts like his executive assistant and spends much of each day on the telephone. They have three grown children.

It’s not hard to see how Hendrick has developed so many good business relationships. He’s very down-to-earth, soft spoken and his disarming smile lights up his face. He is also goal-oriented and has a gift of reaching them.

"I know what I want and nine times out of 10 I get what I want," he said. "When you work hard you tend to get what you want in life."

He is so customer focused he has his beans tested at an Ottawa lab each year for protein levels and flavor and can tell his client up front exactly what they can expect from their product.

Meantime, competition is stiffening in Japan and Hendrick, who also supples white beans and kidney beans to Italy and Spain, is looking for a new exotic market for soybeans: Taiwan.

He’s headed there in January in hopes of striking at least one deal. Two buyers from Taiwan visited his farm this year after an averted disaster. Hendrick’s charm came to the rescue. His translator didn’t show up when he and crop farmer Dave Bryan picked them up at their Montreal hotel. With hand gestures they persuaded the Taiwanese to get in their van but there was no conversation for most of the trip.

Hendrick was on the cell phone frantically calling all over in search of a translator. Someone told them a family running a restaurant where Hwy 401 mets Hwy 31 speaks mandarin Chinese. They pulled in and Hendrick convinced the restaurateur to join a bunch of strangers for the afternoon.

When their new translator met the two in the van they all began talking excitedly at once.