Quality counts as Liimus take butcher shop into new era

Despite a few detours to explore other opportunities, membersof the Liimu family have been providing fresh meats andproducts to Thunder Bay customers for half-a-century.

A high-quality butcher shop and sausage factory, European Meatsis operated by Jukka and Wyatt Liimu, the son and grandson ofKalevi Liimu. It was in 1965 that Kalevi opened his Finnish-influencedshop, Finn Meats, later purchasing Twin City Meats. His son Jukkaworked with him, but when the business was sold in 1978 to outsideinterests, Jukka went to Western Foods as a sales rep. A couple ofyears later, he was back in the business his father had taught him,opening European Meats.

“I just wanted to work for myself,” says Jukka, who was assisted byhis father in opening his shop.

With family as a priority, both of Jukka’s sons pitched in. Jaredworked there for several years, as did Wyatt, who was doing oddjobs even before he was in high school.

Wyatt admits he didn’t have a specific career goal in mind whenhe went off to college. He studied business and marketing as well asengineering, but nothing really fired his imagination. It was then hedecided to make his contribution to European Meats full-time,working alongside his father.

When asked what he does on a day-to-day basis, Wyatt laughs.“Literally everything,” he answers. “Cutting, production, dealingwith customers, ordering.”

The store offers a wide variety of products, from fresh or smokedmeat, high quality cheeses, local products, store-baked or locallysourced bread, and lots of imported specialty items.

It is a matter of pride for the Liimus that they have served thepeople, restaurants and grocery stores of Thunder Bay for decades.They have recently expanded into markets in Toronto, Sudbury andcommunities east and west of the city.

“This business has the same products and recipes that my fatherhad,” Jukka says. “We have not changed in 54 years, but themachinery has. Now the plant is fitted with top-of-the-lineequipment for higher production, but also a safer and more sanitaryproduct.”

New regulations from Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food andRural Affairs has spurred a facelift in the production area. This projectwill see new walls put up to meet the standards of fresh productcoming through the docking area, then proceeding to theproduction area, and finally arriving at the ready to eat/packing area.

“We have produced a layout that exceeds the regulations andensures we are ahead of the curve for years to come, which hasalways been a priority to us,” Wyatt says.

These renovations are essential for the business. The upgradeallows them to move towards federal inspections, openingopportunities for growth and innovation. They are currently onlyprovincially inspected.

“With federal inspection we can send our products nationwide oreven out of country,” Wyatt explains. “Also with federal inspectionwe would have the opportunity to expand on our list of productsand move into a new field, such as dry cured meats. We won’t bethe only ones benefiting from this project, as we can ensure an evensafer made product due to meeting the same regulations as largerplants.”