Hensall Foods turning locally grown beans into fresh ready meals
Amir Naveed proudly watched as the production line at Hensall Foods pump out fresh ready meals with beans and grains, grown within a few kilometres of his Exeter, Ont. facility.
“We have seven or eight of our recipes with beans and lentils, which were grown right here in Huron and surrounding area,” explained Hensall Foods General Manager Amir Naveed.
For several decades, the Hensall Co-op, with 6,000 farmer member owners, has been shipping southwestern Ontario grown beans and grains to food production facilities around the world.
But, two-and-a-half years ago, they thought they’d better start making their own products, so they launched Hensall Foods and their brand of Screaming Chef ready-to-eat meals.
“The big reason behind Screaming Chef and Hensall Food Inc. is adding value for our members. Essentially providing other ways for their products to be used, specifically kept within Huron County, and not necessarily shipped elsewhere,” explained Rebecca Hubbard, marketing and communications manager for the Hensall Co-op.
Screaming Chef meals, using Huron County grown beans and lentils, are produced at Hensall Foods in Exeter, Ont. on April 15, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
The meals that “scream” when they’re ready to eat after being heated up have been a hit.
Their 20 varieties of reheatable, but not frozen, meals are already in Walmart locations Canada wide, with hopes of hitting the shelves of Costco later this year.
Naveed said they can produce 10,000 Screaming Chef meals a day at their Exeter production line that currently has eight employees.
“We’ve designed some special recipes for hospitals and long-term care homes, so we are now shipping directly to those customers as well. There is a lot of potential,” said Naveed.
Screaming Chef meals, using Huron County grown beans and lentils, are produced at Hensall Foods in Exeter, Ont. on April 15, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
While the vacuum sealed, fresh ready meals — which are good for 90 days in your fridge — are flying off the shelves, it’s shipping beans 10 minutes down the road from Hensall to Exeter, and not around the world, that’s created the most excitement at the co-op.
That local food focus is expanding into Screaming Chef meals featuring beef, with a Parkhill beef producer soon joining forces with Hensall Foods.
“That special supplier is using beef from a Hensall Co-op member, so it’s full vertical integration within our recipe. We’re using as much local as possible. Pasta from Toronto. Sauces from St. Marys, and the beans from Huron County and area. It’s exciting,” said Naveed.
You can learn more about Hensall Foods’ ‘Screaming Chef’ line of locally produced meals on their website.
Screaming Chef meals, using Huron County grown beans and lentils, are produced at Hensall Foods in Exeter, Ont. on April 15, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.
DEVELOPING Police begin removing barricades at a pro-Palestinian demonstrators' encampment at UCLA
Police removed barricades and began dismantling a pro-Palestinian demonstrators’ fortified encampment early Thursday at the UCLA campus after hundreds of protesters defied police orders to leave, about 24 hours after counter-protesters attacked a tent encampment on the campus.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.