The partnership between a livestock producer and butcher in southwestern Ontario’s Elgin County will get provincial funding to expand its workspace and retail space.
Farmgate Markets has picked up $95,000 from the province’s Rural Economic Development Program to renovate a former LCBO provincial liquor store building at St. Thomas, south of London.
The renovations are expected to allow the company to expand its retail space and boost its production of processed meats, which in turn will boost its requirements from local farms and allow it to create up to 10 new jobs.
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“Having the provincial support to improve our processing and retail capacity has been key in our continued success,” company president Sandy Lyle, who raises cattle and hogs in Elgin County, said in the province’s release.
“With the province on board, we can increase production and continue to serve our local customers.”
Lyle co-founded Farmgate Markets in 2004 working with local butcher Ray Coddington, who provided the company with the recipes for what it bills as leaner, gluten-free, phosphate-free, MSG-free, low-sodium and byproduct-free deli specialties.
Apart from its retail store, which sells fresh meats, sausages and deli meats, the company also markets its products directly to restaurants and at farmers’ markets.
The company in June also received a Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence from the provincial government.
