Schinkel's Legacy Upholds a Proud Family Tradition

By Lois Harris

Patience, 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 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 conversations was very, very helpful,” he says, especially since they still had to run the day-to-day operations of the business.

The company completed the ownership changeover from Kevin’s father Tim and his wife Marian in March 2020.

MPO membership pays off

Schinkel is extremely grateful to be Vice President of the board of Meat & Poultry Ontario, a legacy he has taken up from his father.

“Tim was always heavily involved in OIMP (Ontario Independent Meat Processors) and MPO,” says, adding that he was especially impressed with the amount of knowledge and advice he received when the company was in the process of getting certified under the federal government’s Food Safety Enhancement Program.

He’s also thankful in terms of his own personal growth by being involved in the MPO board.

“I learned the importance of board structure and the functions of a board through my experience serving on MPO,” he says. “Everything I’ve learned about meat and meat processing has come from a combination of my dad and MPO.”

After working toward a psychology degree from the University of Western Ontario, Schinkel instead opted to go into the family business.

“My dad always made it clear that if I wanted to, the door was open to come and work,” he says. He started on the production floor and worked his way through pretty much every part of the business, including managing the plant.

Now, with Kevin as president, brother Matt as financial controller and Thomas in sales, Schinkel’s Legacy is on solid footing. Future of the industry Schinkel thinks that the meat industry will continue to be in the hands of small to moderate sized businesses who continue to seek support from local communities.

Going forward, Schinkel says he’s looking to get the company certified SQF (Safe, Quality Food), a designation that meets international standards for food safety and quality. He’s also looking to obtaining more customers across provincial borders and eventually into the U.S., although the main focus will continue to be at home in Ontario. “I think the pandemic has shown how fragile large industries can be,” he says. “A lot of people are going to realize how important local food is.”

“We will continue to do what we do best – produce good quality food,” he says. He also says that, even if people eat less meat, there will always be a market for good local meat. “I think we’ll see the industry continue to grow – which is great,” he says.

Future of the industry

Schinkel thinks that the meat industry will continue to be in the hands of small to moderate sized businesses who continue to seek support from local communities.

“I think the pandemic has shown how fragile large industries can be,” he says. “A lot of people are going to realize how important local food is.”

He says that one of Ontario’s greatest assets is its food industry, not only for the province but for all of Canada and other countries.

“I think we’ll see the industry continue to grow – which is great,” he says.