Meat+Poultry - November 2020 - 60

S M A L L B U S I N E S S M AT T E R S

Widynowski's Sausage
House specializes in
Ukranian specialties
including its famous
Ukranian Traditional
which is known for
its garlic flavor.

provide to local organizations, particularly
around the holidays. With the excitement that
program generates, he really doesn't have
to advertise.
While retail sales represent most of the
company's business, another chunk is from
game meat processing. The fundraising
opportunities help cement its relationship
with its ethnic customer base and attract
new shoppers from those who bought from
fundraising groups or those involved who
felt supported by Widynowski's program. The
fundraising program is highlighted on the
company's website at sausagehouse.ca.
The fundraising programs feature the
shop's gluten- and MSG-free traditional,
pure ham and garlic sausages, plus a bevy of
items like pepperoni sticks, cheddar cheese
smokies, sausage wieners, jalapeño and
cheese smokies, and a honey garlic pepperoni
that packs plenty of heat. They also offer
smaller Kubbie sausage burgers in 5- and
42-count packages. The neighborhood shop
sells a bangin' pork jerky as well as doublesmoked sausage rings.
Then there is the pastry aspect of this
ethnic market. With uncommon names but
unforgettable tastes, pastry demand is popping.
For example, customers can find pompeshke,
a Ukrainian donut loaded with prune or poppy;
nalysynky, a crepe filled with cottage cheese;
and finally a pedishke, a pastry treat laden with
cottage cheese and potato.

MEAT+ POULTRY | 11.20 | www.meatpoultry.com

PANDEMIC ADJUSTMENTS
Tyler, now 37, said the fundraising programs
suffered at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
"People just weren't holding cookouts and
gatherings like they were in the past and that
hit us hard," he said. "The Ukrainians love their
foods at gatherings, particularly around the holidays. We had to implement two shifts to mitigate our staff distancing issues, put up shields
that separated us from the customers and then
get used to everyone having to wear masks."
The Canadian company also does a
steady game processing trade that seemingly
goes on for most months of the year. They
only accept clean boneless game meats and
make them into specialty meat products for
their customers.
Tyler noted that while the old hand-crank
stuffer is still around, it's been replaced with
more modern equipment..."nothing fancy or
major...a digital stuffer and a few things to help
us increase our capacity."
When looking to the future, Tyler's
accounting background kicks in.
"Maybe in a few years we can see that
the capacity of our building won't be able
to keep up with our growth," he said. "We'll
need more freezer space and storage. It might
mean some expansion or possibly locating to
a larger building if we take on more sizeable
commercial accounts. And, of course, you'll
always need to be looking for more efficient
and larger equipment."

http://www.sausagehouse.ca http://www.meatpoultry.com

Meat+Poultry - November 2020

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