WELLINGTON NORTH – The approaching enlargement of Wellington Poultry will convey with it extra jobs and a brand new product line, the Aziz household has advised the Advertiser.
Tony and Sherry Aziz are the important thing C-level positions behind Amir High quality Meats, which acquired Wellington Poultry final fall.
The CEO and CFO, respectively, mentioned in a cellphone interview final week that main modifications are coming to the previous Wellington Poultry facility, now often called Amir Specialty Poultry.
The present 18,770-square-foot operation at its Wellington Highway 109 property, west of Arthur, has reached capability and is restricted in its potential.
Round 16 poultry producers at present provide the power with 10,000 birds every day, that are then slaughtered, processed and shipped out the door in bulk the next day.
Although plans for a brand new 25,521-square-foot addition would enable extra product to be saved, it’s a brand new packaging line the household is most all in favour of.
Packaging companies will enable the corporate to answer particular buyer calls for and individually package deal their completed merchandise.
In anticipation of the enlargement — expectation is for a fourth-quarter groundbreaking this 12 months — the Azizes are planning to launch a brand new model of specialty rooster merchandise beneath the Amir Specialty Poultry banner.
Specialty rooster merchandise are created from silkies and yellow breeds, with the pinnacle and ft left on the completed product.
Amir Specialty Poultry, Sherry mentioned, is already one of many largest producers of such merchandise in Ontario, catering primarily to the Asian meals market within the Better Toronto Space.
The corporate additionally serves the Halal meals market — describing “permissible” meals ready in accordance with Islamic legislation.
“We see loads of alternative to proceed to develop the Ontario market when it comes to decisions,” Sherry mentioned.
With the enlargement would additionally come a change in authorities oversight to the federal Canadian Meals Inspection Company, from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Meals and Rural Affairs regime.
The change to the federal regulator comes with many modifications, Tony mentioned, however essentially the most important are having the ability to work hand-in-hand with their federally-regulated Brampton facility and having the ability to export Wellington merchandise past Ontario.
“We would like the flexibility to take the Ontario rooster from the Ontario farmers and go throughout [Canada] with it, and presumably exterior of the nation as effectively,” Tony mentioned.
With these aspirations in thoughts, the Azizes got down to purchase their very own slaughtering facility with quota connected from the Hen Farmers of Ontario, which controls the manufacturing of poultry — resulting in the acquisition of the previous Wellington Poultry operation.
“What we acknowledged is as we continued to service this rising market, we would want to safe our personal provide,” Tony mentioned.
“That’s the place we actually began enthusiastic about buying a slaughter facility … to assist us management our personal future to a sure extent.”
However there’s a restrict to how a lot the Azizes say they’re prepared to develop.
“We need to develop the enterprise, however we don’t need to turn out to be too giant,” Sherry mentioned of the family-run operation.
Sherry’s father, Mohammed, started a poultry distribution enterprise in Mississauga within the early Nineteen Nineties, and in 2006, Sherry joined her father within the meat enterprise, after 15 years in banking.
Providing value-added companies — marination, customized recipes, customized packaging and the like — Sherry began Amir High quality Meats in 2010, initially opening in a 3,000-square-foot facility.
“Finally giant shoppers began to have a look at us and inquire and requested that we produce for them,” Sherry recalled.
Amir started supplementing different suppliers for one of many largest quick meals eating places in Canada, proving they might deal with an rising quantity work with more and more particular calls for. Sherry and Tony declined to call any of their prospects.
A second constructing enlargement was shortly outgrown, and in 2018, the household opened up a 20,000-square-foot plant in Brampton, the place the corporate is now headquartered.
Tony, who spent 21 years working in info expertise earlier than becoming a member of the enterprise in 2017, credit the household’s agility, responsiveness and a deal with meals security and customer support for Amir’s natural development in extremely personalized, area of interest markets.
Operating the provision facet of the enterprise “is new to us,” he admitted.
“We’re studying … we’re attending to know all of the farmers.”
Nearly all of producers’ contracts have been transferred to Amir throughout the acquisition, in accordance with Tony, who additionally mentioned most workers stayed on with the brand new firm.
“With our enlargement we’re definitely going to be offering jobs,” Sherry added.
“We’re hoping that Amir High quality Meats will probably be very a lot part of the neighborhood there.”
The corporate at present employs round 30 folks at its Wellington North location, with plans to rent round 20 extra.