2 minute read
From Homemade Recipe to Retail Success
How Fanshawe’s Centre for Research and Innovation helped take Cedar Valley Selections to the next level.
When Surria Fadel’s 16-year-old son, Ameen, used her fattoush salad dressing recipe for a high school business venture project, neither dreamed it would lead them to establish a manufacturing company that now distributes to 1,200 stores across Canada.
Cedar Valley Selections launched in 2017 with Ameen and Surria selling salad dressing and pita chips at a farmers’ market in Windsor, Ontario. It was Canada’s first bottled fattoush dressing, and demand for both products took off. When Sobey’s and Whole Foods started carrying them, the Fadels knew it was time to ramp up production.
By 2021, Cedar Valley had moved to a 5,000-square-foot space, hired staff and automated some of the packaging and labeling processes. Increase in market demand was putting pressure on production capabilities, and the Fadels weren’t sure how to scale up in the best way.
That fall, they connected with Fanshawe’s Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI) and received targeted advice and support for a three-month period. Based on the CRI advisor’s process mapping and capacity assessment, Cedar Valley was able to improve production flow, increase efficiencies and reduce labour costs. An analysis of the cost of goods sold and profit margins for each product led to a better pricing strategy and negotiation position with suppliers.
By the end of 2023, they had added Costco to their customer roster, were set to move to a 12,000-square-foot facility and had appeared on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.
Surria says CRI’s assistance was both timely and helpful. “Working with someone with experience and understanding in the consumer-packaged goods industry was invaluable.”
Hear from Surria on her experience with CRI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouEuo_7SXvM
We acknowledge the support of the Southern Ontario Network for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation (SONAMI) for this project.
