BUSINESS MEMBER PROFILE
Schinkel’s Legacy
Upholds a Proud Family Tradition By Lois Harris
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atience, time, lots of communication and help from third-party consultants were a winning combination for the successful passing of Schinkel’s Legacy from one generation to the next. “We used consultants quite a bit to ensure that the way we set it up was good for the company, not just individuals,” says President Kevin Schinkel, who actually did a presentation before he got his current job to the new ownership, which includes his wife Carolyn, his sister Jessica and her husband Craig Hillman, and brother Matt. Brother Thomas has stayed with the company in sales. “We wanted to make sure that as an ownership group we had the same vision and values and that we were on the same page,” he says. Schinkel’s Legacy is a corporation located in Chatham, Ontario that employs up to 25 people, depending on the season, and makes about 50 meat products, with bacon, ham and hot dogs being the top sellers. The Meat & Poultry Ontario (MPO) member company has its roots in a butcher shop Kevin’s grandfather and his brother bought in 1963. “A focus on quality is one of our biggest values – we don’t cut corners,” he says “Our tag line is putting quality on the table – which means quality, safe food for families to eat and enjoy at home.” Another principle for the family business is to maintain a family culture throughout the company, where people are valued and respected. “We want people to work here and enjoy their jobs,” he says. Expansion A second retail outlet was added in the early 1980s, followed by a manufacturing building in 1993, with expansions in 1999, 2004 and 2011. Today, the company has a 14,500 square foot facility. Schinkel’s Legacy was one of the first small plants to be HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certified in the 28
BlockTalk - Spring 2022
early 2000s. “We were in a pilot project in 2010 that encouraged provincial plants to get into inter-provincial trade – by the end of it, there was a small gap to getting the federal certification,” Schinkel says, adding that his father Tim was always looking for ways to improve the business. While the company does ship as far away as British Columbia and Newfoundland, the main reason for getting federally registered was to sell into some of the bigger retailers like Longo’s, Farm Boy and, in eastern Canada, Colemans. The majority of their sales are to independent small retailers in Ontario – the London, Windsor and Sarnia markets, with a small amount going into food service. Succession In 2011, around the time that Kevin decided to join the family business, Tim started planning for succession. The family developed their plan and executed it with the help of several consultants, including Synthesis Agri-Food Network, who helped iron out the roles and responsibilities early on, Family Enterprise Exchange (also known as Canadian Association of Family Enterprise) and Siskinds law firm. The process went remarkably smoothly because of the advice and resources provided by outside agencies. “With the help of the consultants we had, it was very easy to come to alignment and agreement about how things should go,” he says. “We basically had to form a new company – previously, it was just mom and dad, and now there were five separate partners who would own it.” Schinkel advises anyone thinking about succession to take the time to find the right consultants. “I guarantee there are things that you will not think of – between 2011 and 2014, it was very complex – having someone looking in from the outside to bring issues to light and guide the delicate www.meatpoultryon.ca
