London Inc. September 2021 - 19

" WHAT I FIND IS A WELL-EXECUTED
FAMILY COMPANY WITH OUTSTANDING
EMPLOYEES CAN COMPETE WITH MOST
CORPORATE STRUCTURES, OR COMPETE
MUCH MORE FAVOURABLY. AND WE'RE
FRANKLY OBSESSED WITH WHAT WE
DO " -Stew Cardiff
broth processing plant. In layman's
terms, says Cardiff, " We take the ingredients,
blend it together and put it in the
Tetra package aseptically. "
Working closely with TetraPak, the
world's leading food processing and
packaging solutions company, Cardiff
Products has already carved out a niche
as one of a small number of co-packing
facilities able to consistently produce
40,000-square-foot warehouse, nearly
doubling their size.
" The outlook is very positive, which
is why I decided to pull the trigger on an
expansion now, " Cardiff says.
And they're doing it as a family operation,
with Cardiff working closely with
his wife, daughters and two sons-inlaws,
one being Jon McPhail, who has
been his right hand for the last dozen
years and is also his business partner.
If large-scale co-packing seems like
a tough road for a small family firm,
Cardiff isn't sweating it. " What I find is
a well-executed family company with
outstanding employees can compete
with most corporate structures, or
compete much more favourably, " he
says. " And we're frankly obsessed with
what we do. "
" Stew came to us about two or three
shelf-stable non-dairy beverages.
" It's a very sophisticated process
that very few people in North America
do, " Cardiff says. " You're dealing with
a sterile product, and you can't allow
outside atmosphere to get into the process.
The tolerance for quality is very
high. Everything has a steam barrier
protecting it. It's the next level up from
regular processing. "
Just six months into the new venture,
the business has seen exponential
growth, such that they are expanding
their Discovery Drive facilities already,
recently announcing plans to add a new
years ago and said he wanted to set
up an aseptic co-packing facility in
London, Ontario, and immediately
we jumped into that story, " says Boris
Munster, TetraPak's director of
contract manufacturing for Canada
and the U.S. " I'm very happy with the
collaboration. We can build a very solid
relationship and build business for both
of us. "
And for Cardiff himself, the move
would seem to be a good fit personally.
Shelf-stable products are the future -
a way to cut down on both waste and
energy-heavy refrigeration.
" When I step back and look at this
industry - processing - and see the
food waste, that's part of it, " he says. " It
was a good fit for us, it fit nicely with our
values and what we wanted to do with
the next business. We're fortunate
people. "
KIERAN DELAMONT
SEPTEMBER 2021 | londonincmagazine.ca | 19
London 519-6672-0900
Kitchener 519-772-2525
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London Inc. September 2021

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