Q. Paul, tell us about North House Foods.

A. North House Foods is an Ottawa-based manufacturer, co-packer, private-labeler and distributor of natural and organic food and beverage products. We supply products to over 500 natural food stores, large retailers and foodservice providers across Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. We employ 50 people at our two 15,000 square foot facilities. Our core business is plant-based, preservative- and additive-free products, and HPP cold-pressure pasteurization is a unique component of the service we provide to retain the nutritional content and extend shelf life on many of these products.

Q. What’s your focus for 2020?

A. We will continue with branded products and expanding co-packing relationships for the retail and foodservice markets. Our growth over the last four years has been beyond expectations with production volume increasing by close to 35%. For 2020, we are looking beyond eastern Canadian markets into western Canada and the United States.

Q. Where do you see product development heading for North House Foods?

A. We have excellent product developers and food scientists in house and they keep us creative and on trend. The majority of our products are fresh, preservative-free sauces, dips, juices and purees. Products are conventional, natural and organic and we have built our reputation on delivering high quality, small batch foods with exceptional flavour profiles. In 2019, we introduced a new line of fresh vegan dips, sauces, dressings and spreads that are absolutely delicious and successfully meeting consumer demands for new vegan flavours and food options. We are currently working on a new line of cold pressed juices, juice cleanses and purees in 2020 that we are very excited about – another line that serves the continuously growing demand for quality products that deliver nutrition at a reasonable price for the broadest market.

Q. North House Foods is a proven supporter of the community. Can you tell us more?

A. We really are. When the opportunity to partner on the Ottawa Food Hub and the Ottawa Incubator Kitchen presented itself, we saw this as a perfect fit. Providing a full service commercial kitchen for small processors to commercialize and scale up their products for retail sales is incredibly rewarding. We assist with networking and business development for these clients, and introducing them to retailers that we work with. The Ottawa Food Hub brings food professionals together for improved coordination and distribution of food from farm to table. It is important to us to support the region and entrepreneurial people looking for a way into the industry.

To learn more about North House Foods visit North House Foods.

Thanks Paul for your time!

Food and Beverage Ontario