Big things for Little Bones

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This article was published 29/09/2017 (3110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local chef and entrepreneur got a big boost after winning the 2017 Great Manitoba Food Fight.

“In the last week, oh man, things have changed,” Alex Goertzen, founder and co-owner of Little Bones Wings, told The Herald. “Mountains are moving.”

The annual competition for local food and beverage entrepreneurs is sponsored by the provincial government and Food & Beverage Manitoba. The Great Manitoba Food Fight provides not only a financial prize, but opportunities to tap into existing distribution and production channels in order for participants to grow their business. Goertzen’s gold medal is valued at $13,000, and has already opened doors for the Transcona based business.

“We’ve been talking with company reps from China interested in purchasing our wings, we’re talking about distribution rights to LA,” Goertzen said, and that’s only to start with.

Those who’ve sampled their product, whether at their 123 Regent Ave. W location, or from one of their food trucks or catering gigs, recognize that quality is at the forefront of what Little Bones Wings is all about.

“We do a fresh breaded, fresh fried wing, in 75 unique flavours,” Goertzen said. “I think people relate to the fun, quirky brand. It’s named after the Tragically Hip song, and people love that.”

Goertzen believes the company’s focus on local food and ecological responsibility made an impact with the Great Manitoba Food Fight judges.

“All three main ingredients are Manitoba produced,” he said. “The chicken is Manitoba Poultry from Granny’s, the flour is Manitoba wheat from Prairie Flour Mills, and the oil we cook it in is Manitoba canola. There are some spices in there that obviously aren’t grown in Manitoba, but everything else is.”

Since Goertzen opened the first Little Bones food truck across from Kildonan Place in 2012, he has gone to lengths to keep the business eco-friendly.

“Sometimes, you can only do so much as a small business,” he said, citing his early adoption of biodegradable takeout containers as one example of going green. “But in every instance that it’s possible, I’m doing that.”

When Goertzen first opened his food truck, he envisioned it as a stepping stone to a restaurant. Goertzen and some shareholders opened their current location beneath the Royal George Hotel in 2014. Since then they’ve become Park City mainstays, and business has been booming. The food truck is still in operation during the summer, and Little Bones has branched out to event catering.

While Goertzen initially envisioned a Little Bones empire spreading across the country, his business plan has taken a different turn. A year and a half ago, they opened a Little Bones on south Pembina, but Goertzen said the location wasn’t ideal.

“It ended up sucking a bunch of capital out of the business, so we shut’er down,” he said.

However, when one door closes, another often opens. About a year ago, Goertzen said he and his shareholders were approached with an opportunity to get into food manufacturing.

“I’m always looking for different opportunities, though I’m not one to just jump on something,” Goertzen said. “But I did some feasibility tests on the manufactured wing, and it turns out this is a way better project to incubate.”

Goertzen played around with a recipe for reproducing their award winning wings in a mass produced setting for “about six months.” Currently, they’re working to bring a par-cooked, blast frozen version of their wings to market.

“It will come with a saucing guideline, so the client, whoever they may be, can leverage our brand,” Goertzen explained.

No matter where the manufacturing takes them, Goertzen was emphatic that Little Bones will continue to serve up the fresh breaded, fresh fried wings that have made them famous, both at the restaurant and out of their food truck in the summers.

“I’m starting to feel like a real part of the community here,” he said.

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