On the nook of Aberdeen Avenue and Arlington Road within the north finish of Winnipeg sits a pizza manufacturing firm that is doing issues a bit otherwise.
As a substitute of promoting pizza by the slice, Kitchen North hopes to serve up restaurant high quality meals to Indigenous individuals in distant communities.
It is co-owned by Oji-Cree businessman Michael Birch, who grew up in Backyard Hill First Nation, over 600 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
He is aware of how tough it’s to get a top quality slice of pizza in an remoted neighborhood.
“I feel that is what evokes me, is providing good merchandise at a excessive stage and premium merchandise to our individuals,” mentioned Birch.
The store makes pizza with merchandise regionally sourced in Winnipeg from companions like Bothwell Cheese and Winnipeg Outdated Nation. Then it freezes the pizzas after which supplies it to distributors like Household Meals and Meals Fare.
The idea for the enterprise began after Birch approached co-owner George Tsouras, saying he had leased an area and needed a companion with expertise within the meals business.
Tsouras had spent over 40 years within the restaurant enterprise and needed to do one thing completely different. Pizza appeared like the only option for delivery to remoted communities.
“What individuals do not understand is that pizza is a greater worth than a Massive Mac meal for a similar value,” mentioned Tsouras.
He mentioned pizza can be filling and may feed a number of individuals. Tsouras mentioned he tried working with pasta previously and had partnered with Costco and the Superstore however that was largely a failed enterprise.
Now, he and Birch are offering meals individuals actually need.
“I feel all people likes pizza,” mentioned Tsouras.
“I feel that almost all of individuals up North need one thing that’s filling: pizzas, fried rooster and ribs. They appear to be extremely popular up there.”
Kitchen North, co-owned by Michael Birch, an Oji-Cree man from Backyard Hill First Nation, is about getting remoted communities a slice of high quality pizza.
Delivery meals to remoted communities stays a problem, Birch mentioned. He mentioned he is involved about how the product will probably be handled at a cargo warehouse. However he’s proud that communities like Sandy Lake First Nation have already positioned orders.
The enterprise homeowners are additionally proud to be supporting the Indigenous neighborhood in Winnipeg, and say 4 out of the ten workers they’ve are Indigenous.
Leona Zastre, the dough maker, mentioned she’s proud to work for an Indigenous enterprise that is making a distinction.
“Up north they’ve a variety of excessive costs and stuff like that and never good high quality stuff, and once we ship it up north … we will have that good high quality, good tasting pizza that everyone craves, proper?” mentioned Zastre.
