Little Bones taking flight

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This article was published 21/06/2019 (2514 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Big things are happening for Little Bones. 

On June 21, the local company officially launched two new products into Winnipeg grocery stores. 

“We’ve developed a deliciously dry Southern Tender, based on what we make in the restaurant,” said Alex Goertzen, director of marketing and food innovation for Little Bones Wings Inc. “We’re putting our love and passion for food into manufactured products. We’re putting that culinary value into the product.”

Lovers of fine poultry products can now purchase Little Bones pre-breaded frozen chicken wings and tenders at local Sobeys, Safeway, IGA and Red River Co-op stores.

“We set out to develop a locally sourced, restaurant-quality wing and tender that gives our fans virtually the same taste and experience that they have come to expect at our restaurant,” Goertzen explained. “People are messaging me on social media, telling me this is the best frozen tender or wing they’ve ever had.”

“We are very excited to welcome these innovative and immensely popular local products to our frozen food selection,” Gary Hughes, local business development manager for Sobeys, said. “We encourage our valued Manitoba customers to give these delicious local products a try.”

Along with its reputation for quality, the main selling feature of the product is they are made in Manitoba using local ingredients.

“We’re locally produced using Manitoba poultry exclusively through Granny’s,” Goertzen said. “The breading is Manitoba flour, Manitoba wheat. We’re par-cooking it in prairie-sourced canola oil, supporting a lot of Manitoba agriculture industries along the way.”

Founded by Goertzen seven years ago as a food truck, Little Bones opened a ‘brick and mortar’ location at 123 Regent Ave. W in downtown Transcona five years ago. Two years ago, Goertzen won the 2017 Great Manitoba Food Fight gold medal.

The annual competition  for local food and beverage entrepreneurs is sponsored by the provincial government and Food & Beverage Manitoba. Valued at $13,000, the award was not only a financial prize, but provided opportunities for Goertzen and the growing Little Bones team to tap into existing distribution and production channels in order for participants to grow their business.

Little Bones’ frozen chicken wings and tenders were developed with the assistance of the Food Development Centre in Portage La Prairie, Man. Mariner Neptune is the exclusive wholesale distributor for the products.

“It’s a whole new world, but I’m deep in it now,” Goertzen said about manufacturing and distribution. “I know a lot more than I did two years ago.”

Now that Litte Bones Wings are available to consumers at the retail level, Goertzen said he and his team are already working on new products.

“We have a couple products in the works, including a boneless poultry product and substitute as well,” Goertzen said. “We want to align ourselves with some of the producers who are producing plant-based proteins here in Manitoba.”

A line of sauces is also in the early stages of development, as is an export plan to the United States.

“I want to expose the world to honey dill,” Goertzen said.

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca or call him at 204-697-7112

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