Acquisition of Thunder Bay food companies will help with northern food insecurity: Marten Falls chief

A northwestern Ontario First Nation hopes its recent acquisition of two Thunder Bay food companies will help address food insecurity in the north.

Marten Falls First Nation now owns 51 per cent of Bay Meats and Cav-Tal Foods, Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said.

"We've been a long, long time customer — as a community — of Bay Meats, and we know that the company had very good product," he said, adding the owner approached the community about coming on board as investors.

"Then this opportunity came up on Cav-Tal Foods, which is a separate business in itself," Achneepineskum said. "It seemed like a perfect fit into expanding our food business."

Bay Meats still operates as a processing centre for butchered meat, while the Cav-Tal building on Norah Crescent handles all kinds of food distribution, and also has a public storefront.

Cav-Tal CEO Alex Siciliano said the move allows the company to expand, "and really wholesale a lot of food throughout Northwestern Ontario."

Achneepineskum said he hopes the initiative will help address issues around food security in the north. Marten Falls also hopes to bring on other First Nations in the area as customers.

"We're just starting to open those doors right now," he said.  Achneepineskum said there is also the possibility of expanding the business by constructing a processing site and catering at the Thunder Bay location.