The Meat Factory

Source: Exec Digital Canada

Date :4/11/2008 5:07:03 AM

TMF strives to be a quality processor of branded and private label value-added meat products that are innovative, trusted and consistently superior

Written by Kellie K. Speed and Produced by John Bilodeau

No matter how you slice it, The Meat Factory continues to serve up some of the best prepared entrées inside their processing facility in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. Founder Lou Albanese and president Andrew Thomson have created an entire line of turkey, beef and pork products, including prime rib, pot roast, Texas Style Smoked beef brisket and their famed peameal bacon.

“The Meat Factory started out in 1978 in the basement of Lou Albanese’s home and the company became incorporated in 1980,” says Mr. Thomson. “Over the last 30 years the company has been transformed to focus solely on fully cooked products and peameal bacon. We are the largest manufacturer of peameal bacon in Canada. Peameal bacon is a significant product for us because of its unique flavor and is a healthier alternative to bacon, with only four to five percent fat versus the 60 percent fat found in regular bacon and has 40 percent less salt.”

The company originally purchased peameal from an outside supplier but became dissatisfied with the quality they were receiving. As a result of numerous customer complaints over poor taste, excessive saltiness and fat, Mr. Thomson said they decided to begin making their own product. Today, consumers not only eat peameal bacon (cured pork backs rolled in cornmeal) with breakfast but are enjoying it for lunch and dinner as well.

The growing company’s head office is located in Stoney Creek and employs approximately 125 people. This year, Thomson projects a 2008 revenue of $40 million. Lou’s products are currently sold in Canada, Hong Kong and the U.S.

“I joined the company in 1985 and became a partner in 1992,” Mr. Thomson says. “We started the retail division in 1992, selling through most major grocery stores. We have grown over the last 15 years and our retail division is a significant part of our business. Our Foodservice division has undergone significant changes, and as of January 2007, we are no longer producing portion controled steaks and burgers and have focused our attention on our fully cooked and peameal bacon product line.”

Food safety

Because food safety is a growing concern shared by consumers and suppliers, Thomson and Albanese set out on getting the company certified. In the mid 1990s, the company earned its Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification, an internationally recognized systematic preventative approach to food safety.

“Fully prepared entrées have really taken off in Canada,” Mr. Thomson says. “If you have children, it’s a great family dinner that can be prepared in just a few minutes and kids love the meals. People are so busy today and don’t have a lot of time to cook. Most families don’t want to go out to dinner all the time or can’t afford to, so Lou’s products offer a healthy and cost effective solution.”

Inside The Meat Factory plant, Albanese and Thomson realize their employees are the key to the company’s success. As such, they knew they had to implement a program to retain core employees and reduce turnover.

“We do different things for our employees, including offering a 100 percent company funded pension plan,” Mr. Thomson says. “We recognize the need for our employees to have something for their retirement. Three years ago, we had a huge staff turnover in our plant, with the plant running at about two to eight degrees Celsius, it’s quite cold and is not a warm environment. We started rewarding employees with the presidential award based on attendance, productivity and HACCP compliance. Since then, we have had a 6.5 percent turnover rate.”

Getting out there

Getting the corporate name out there wasn’t as difficult as they might have thought it would be. Direct mailings has been a successful marketing tool for the company but they prefer to leave most of the advertising to the customer.

“Our competitors have tremendous marketing money to spend in TV advertising,” Mr. Thomson says. “We invest in a quality product with freestanding advertising. We decided to invest with the consumer by generating a customer list and product suggestion. We reply to every email we receive and sometimes Lou personally responds directly to the customer.”

The slow-cooked, fully prepared product line contains no preservatives and is vacuum packed for an extended shelf life. Products include shaved beef au jus, BBQ pork side ribs in barbeque sauce, veal osso bucco Milanese, as well as fully-cooked boneless prime rib. Customers have realized the products offer an affordable high quality alternative to eating out.

“We look at the product category we want to market, for example ribs in the summer, and focus on that market,” Mr. Thomson says. “When we launched our Fully-Cooked Roast Turkey in Gravy, we mailed a free coupon to 5,000 consumers. We saw a tremendous positive response. The following mailer grew to 7,500 people. This coupon was for a free Fully-Cooked Pot Roast and the response was amazing.”

Popular products

One of the most popular of Lou’s products is the Fully-Cooked Beef Pot Roast in Gravy, which is simmered for eleven hours, resulting in a tender and flavorful piece of meat. The company focuses on offering quality products that are tested for months before they are introduced to the public.

“By offering free coupons, we introduce consumers to products they may have never tried before, like our Fully-Cooked French Style Beef Short Ribs, Side Ribs or Back Ribs. It’s our way of saying this is a product of choice and here’s an opportunity to try it for free. We focus on continuous innovations and process improvements to provide our customers with the best product possible. Our recent equipment investment exceeds $5 million, including a twelve cage cookhouse.”

Customers seem to appreciate that the creator of the line is still a very hands-on guy, fielding calls, responding to voicemails and emails, handing out free coupons in grocery stores etc. “ Lou Albanese stands behind ever product that we offer,” Mr. Thomson says. “We give the consumer the opportunity to taste our product, which results in a happy retailer and positive investment in the consumer.”

As the lead manufacturer of peameal bacon and fully-cooked prepared foods, The Meat Factory focuses on superior quality, good value and responsive customer service to satisfy its customers and it appears to have done just that.