BUSINESS MEMBER PROFILE
Finest Sausage & Meat The Dream That Became a Reality By Sandy Trojansek, Meat & Poultry Ontario
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n 1975, master sausage maker Guenter Lotzmann and his friend Martin Gedja established Finest Sausage & Meat Ltd. in Kitchener. Here, they made their dream of opening a meat processing plant come to life. The partners began selling products in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Guenter knew early on what his career path would be, as his father was a master sausage maker in Germany. Current owner Shannon bought the business in 2018 and has watched the business grow since its humble beginnings and has been involved in the day-to-day business for the past 15 years. “They worked long hours running smokehouses overnight, selling product in parking lots and markets, hustling to sell and pay bills,” Shannon Desborough says. Their vision was to work for themselves and oversee their own successes and failures.”
“When they founded the business, the proposal to the bank was they planned on making a certain amount of product, selling product, paying themselves, with no staff, then repaying the loan,” he says. “The bank approved the loan in 1975. They looked at various places, and eventually settled on this property.” Guenter believed they would only service Kitchener, and they kept busy selling sausages and paying bills. Production has expanded since the early days. “The production facility has grown, and we now serve all of Ontario” he says. “We have met and exceeded the expectations of the people that founded this company, and what they believed this business would become in the future.” Finest Sausage & Meat Ltd. is a private corporation located in Kitchener, Ontario, a family business employing 40 people. They serve copacking, private label, markets, stores, delis, and grocery stores across Ontario. The business is known for its Eastern European products, dry cured and fermented, as well as their sausages. “We do a lot of products for charcuterie boards at restaurants,” he says. “Everything we sell in our stores and at the market we make ourselves, such as deli meat and our bacon, which has a solid following. We make pepperettes, beef jerky, turkey breast, Black Forest ham, and European specialties such as Landjager, a pork-based, smoked meat snack.” What would Desborough tell the younger version of himself? “Be true to your vision. Know your value, your mission, and vision, and stay on track with that,” he says. “Stay focused, and the work will pay off.” Desborough also discussed how his next generation vision was evolving.
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BlockTalk - Summer 2022
www.meatpoultryon.ca
