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WHITBY FREE PRESS, "SA LUTE TO PROGRESS", WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1985, PAGE 3 Cobi Foods has big plans for its Whitby operation i of Dr v first established its plant on Brock St. N. in what was then the rural outskirts of the town. But, like the town it- self, Stokely Van Camp has grown. (It should be pointed out that the town has grown so much that the plant is now considered to be almost in 'downtown'Whitby.) Last year, Stokely Van Camp took another vital step in its cor- porate development when it became part of Cobi Foods Inc. of Nova rebuild the plant into a modern, efficient 5,200 square foot facility. Al Kurz needs now to proceed is a building permit from the Town of Whitby's public works department. He has all the necessary approvals and is waiting for the frost to leave the ground to get on with the job. Then, he says, his production will increase dramatically from 2½ million pounds a year and will hopefully enlarge his workforce. Midway Motors marks its 25th year It's hard to believe, but Midway Motors has been selling and ser- vicing Datsuns and Nissans for 18 years now. Back in 1960, two young mechanics named Nick Schneider and Zoltan Weindorfer started up their own service station in down- town Oshawa. Early in 1967, they decided to ex- pand their business and began selling little Japanese cars called Datsuns. By 1972, business had grown to the point where the par- tners found it necessary to move to new facilities. It was at that time that they moved to their present location at 1300 Dundas St. E., Whitby. Midway Motors and its 20 full- and part-time people now offer the complete line-up of Nissan cars and trucks. They also provide ex- cellent service, parts and bodyshop facilities for their customers. Since they've managed to stay in business for 25 years, Schneider and Weindor- fer must know something about keeping their customers satisfied. As they say: "Here's to the next 25." It's an obvious statement, but everyone has to eat. Just walking through the super- market every week is enough to convince anvnne that the processing, packaging and delivery of food- stuffs is big business. Many Whitby residen- ts may not realize that since 1943, food processing has been one of the bulwarks of the local economy. It was in that year that Stokely Van Camp Another thing that ex- cites Park is that unlike most of Cobi's major competitors, his com- pany isall Canadian. 1"We are one of the few ail Canadian companies in the food processing business," h as ,'This means we have to do al our own research and development, all our own marketing." 'We have no one to rely on but ourselves. It's just us, which is calenging andt ex- (In fact, it should be noted that Whitby will also become an even more important resear- ch and development centre under the direc- Kurz makes 2½ niliion pounds of processed meat every year If you have ever eaten in a deli, anywhere in this part of Ontario, or stopped in one to take home a pound of fresh cold cuts, the odds are you've probably sam- pied the wares of Kurz Foods Inc. The company was founded in 1963 by president and master butcher Karl-Heinz Kurz who moved the company to its present location in Myrtle Station some five years later. Since that time, in ad- dition to servicing all manner of food stores throughout southern On- tario, the company has also opened three retail stores of its own - at 118 Brock St. N., Whitby; 180 Queen St., Port Perry; and, their newest store, 385 Taun- ton Rd. E. (the Five Points Mall), Oshawa. His company has also grown to where it has 26 people on the payroll -11 who work in the plant and 15 who work in the stores. Both his wife and daughter work in the business as well. Kurz says that his processing plant is currently producing some 2½/ million pounds of m'eat products every year which are sold all over Ontario. These products include eight different kinds of salami; three varieties of ham; bockwurst; jagdwurst; liver sausage; krakawa; and much, much more. His company also operates its own bakery from its Port Perry location. Fresh bread, rolls, bagels, European style cakes, donuts and other choice bakery items are produced their every day and sold through their own retail outlets. Kurz notes that all of his products contain no chemical additives and the water used in the processing contains no chlorine - he uses fresh well water. His meat contains no by products such as milk solids, flour or soya bean. Kurz Foods did suffer a set-back in January, 1984 when a fire all but destroyed the Myrtle Station plant. Plans have been made to in Ling.) ton o Ji. t U iie. So il Iooks though Whitby's economy will continue to be at least partially corner stoned by the food processing industry for a long time to come. - <~~1 Scotia - making it a wholly owned Canadian Company. According to Arnold Park, executive vice- president of Cobi Foods, the Whitby operation will continue to be a vital cog in their cor- porate wheel. So great is Cobi's committment to the Whitby operation that they spent $2.1 million last year to expand the plant's corn and pum- pkin processing facilities. And this year they will spend another $1.1 million on expan- ding their corn produc- tion. Park also says that most of the food processed at the plant - such as corn, kidney beans, beans with pork, peas and pumpkin - are purchased locally. The company has some 6,500 acres throughout this part of Ontario which is either owned, leased or farmed under contract. Year round, the plant employs some 90 people but during the height of the harvest season, that figure can jump as high as 300. While Park said there will be "slight increase in employment", he admits that most of the changes will make the plant more efficient and technically advanced. "We're making some technical improvemen- ts," Park says, "These will improve the quality of the job and the challenge of the job." These changes will in- crease Whitby's strength in the organization. "We really see Whitby becoming a major production and distribution centre," Park says, "It will be a change. This plant will change from 'Stokely' to a 'Cobi' production and distribution centre." While the Whitby operation specializes in canning. Cobi Food also produces canned, bot- tled and frozen foods and juices at four facilities in Nova Scotia and one in Prince Ed- ward Island. "And for ,the for- seeable future, Whitby will continue to be our canning operation in Ontario," Park said, "We have great plans for Whitby and have in- fused a great amount of capital." While Park said that he has contemplated in- troducing a frozen food aspect to the local plant, no firm plans have been made. Instead, the company is looking to maximize on its canning operation. "It is our goal to produce the best possible quality produce, second to none in the marketplace," Park said. But don't expect to see Cobi on your next can of peas or corn. "It is not expected that Cobi will be used as a brand name in the immediate future," Park said. "Predominance will continue to be given to the well recognized brand names of Stokely, Avon, Graves and Flavor Pack." EUROPEAN STYLE COLDCUTS & DELI FOODS FRESH MEATS, SAUSAGES -HICKORY SMOKED HAM- PARTY TRAYS MADE TO ORDER HOT &COLD TAKE OUT LUNCHES BAKERY GOODS yèo FRESHLY MADE DAILY CAKES, MUFFINS, COOKIES AND BREADS SPECIALTY CAKES MADE TO ORDER SUNDAY'S AT THE OSHAWA BAZAAR. WILSON & WENTWORTH ST. N., 285 TAUNTON RD. E., 1800QUEEN ST., 118 BROCK S POINTS MALL PORT PERRY WHITBY OSHAWA 668-9931 725-3834 985-2818 1963-1985 22 YEARS IN SALES, SERVICE AND LEASING. GUS BROWN PONTIAC BUICK LTD. Gus Brown Pontiac Buick Ltd. has been providing for the community in Durham Region in professional automotive sales, service and leasing. We thank you for your patronage in the past and hopefully see you return in the near future. Without ourvalued customers this growth would not have been possible. ese S e **. . , "WFRf E NOTTII EBIGGEST. BUTilI T MT. EUROPEAN S sTYL.E CODI)CUTS MYRTLE STATION P.O.BOX 48 R.R.No,1. ASHBURNONT.LAB1 AO(416)Sss-3" CENTRE & BAKESHOP