Specialty grocers prepping for holidays

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This article was published 04/12/2020 (1997 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The holidays are going to look different this year — just ask your local specialty grocer.

“Most people are planning for smaller gathering sizes, so things are going from large hams to small hams, large turkeys to small turkeys,” said Mike Watson, owner of Central Products & Foods Ltd. “People are gearing up for that.”

Central Products, located at 630 Nairn Ave., not only produces handmade European style sausages and fresh cuts of meat in-house, but also imports specialty items from across Europe. The Christmas season is always busy, and this year is no exception, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“There were some delays at the start, we got Christmas stuff a few weeks later than usual,” Watson said, adding that only a few products have become unavailable owing to COVID complications. “But we have the stock in now, basically.”

Similarly, at Springfield Meats & Sausages, located at 686 Springfield Rd., business has been booming.

“I’ve hired three more full-time staff since the pandemic started, to keep up with new demand and to keep catering to the people who got me here over the past 20 years,” owner Lorne Minarik, who also owns and operates Pincher’s Perogies, told the Herald. 

Minarik doesn’t see demand slowing down before the new  year, either.

“The pressure’s on,” he said. 

Because public health officials had strongly advised families to limit gathering sizes at Thanksgiving, Minarik saw lots of demand for smaller portion sizes. He expects the same to hold true for Christmas.

“We went and cut up a lot more parts, cutting birds in half and portioning it for household sizes,” he said. “I think we’ll have to do a lot more of that.”

If anything, Minarik is concerned that there may be a shortage of small birds, both turkeys and chickens, come Christmastime.

“I have all my fresh orders in through Granny’s, so hopefully we don’t get stuck,” he said.

Sevala’s Ukrainian Deli, located at 126 Victoria Ave. W, has been offering curbside pickup and limited in-store counter service. However, owing to the uncertainty leading up to the holidays, they have opted to put a halt to Christmas pre-orders.

“Usually we have a few hundred orders for those last days,” said owner Del Demchuk. “But we can’t produce that amount of stuff right now to do that.”

Demchuk explained that the need to social distance his staff within Sevala’s kitchen is a limiting factor, as is the uncertainty around staffing. Should someone need to stay home with children, or isolate themselves, that has a major impact on what can and can’t be prepared.

“That’s the biggest thing for us,” Demchuk said. “We hate to have to tell our customers ‘no.’ But if we promise a whole bunch of products that we can’t make, they’ll be really upset.”

Instead, customers are encouraged to plan ahead, buy now, and freeze what they can.

“The response has been fantastic,” Demchuk said.

The ongoing pandemic has not been without its challenges for small independent grocers, though. The number of customers in  stores has been limited, and businesses have invested in ongoing safety and sanitation protocols.

“Like any other business, it’s been challenging at times making sure that our customers and employees are safe,” Watson said. 

“We’re always adapting to regulations, trying to limit amount of customers inside the store,” Minarik said. “All my staff, they’re doing the same. They’re all doing a great job listening to Dr. Roussin. A short-term sacrifice will go a long way to getting this under control.”

“Everyone’s doing their part,” Demchuk said. “We like to think the people coming through our doors as family and friends. Even if we don’t know them, we try to treat them that way. And we’re getting that back. Which is really cool. It takes a lot of the stress off.”

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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