HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-03-16, Page 32Page 16 -Farm Progress '94
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Family -run operation is prospering
Barry Mahon, of Hilton Whole
Grain .Millers, stands with a
10kg bag of his rolled oat
flakes . he, along with his
family, process at his Statfa
area home. The Mahons have
had success marketing their
product at farmers' markets,.
and through their thriving mall
order business. (Andy Bader
photo)
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We Handle Everything (Almost)
by Andy Bader
Did you know that one acre of
oats can make 20,000 bowls of
oatmeal? Ot, if a person ate nothing
but one bowlof oatmeal at every
meal, at the end of one year it
would only cost them $60?
"It's so inexpensive, it's
ridiculous," says Barry Mahon, of
Hilton Whole Grain Millers, a
family -run farm operation which,
over the past four years, has
continued to prosper despite the
current economic climate.
"There shouldn't be anyone in
Canada go hungry at those prices.".
Mahon, his wife Karen and their
four children have operated their
own oat mill, processing plant and
marketing endeavour from their RR
2 Staffa home since 1989. And
what they've found over the years
has broadened their knowledge of
milling, oats, mailing and meeting
people from one end of the country
to the other.
Mahon said he made the
transition from a family dairy
operation in the mid '80s to a
custom seed cleaning business. That
local need involved three years of
his and his family's .time, but
Mahon felt it was too seasonal. He
wanted something he could sink his
teeth into 12 months of the year.
With the seed cleaning equipment
already in place, the Mahons took
the next step and literally stumbled
into selling their product, toasted
oats, to others.
The rest, as they say, is history.
' Mahon recalls a woman from
Quebec contacting him interested in
receiving a bag of their unique oat
product after she read about their
operation ' in another farm
publication.. Barry said he didn't'
know how tq get it to her, so he
contacted a courier company who
delivered it rather economically --or
so he thought. He was told that the
cost to courier the product should
have been more; a , mistake 'had
been made. Mahon then inquired
about mailing their products
through Canada Post. So far,
they've had fantastic results.
The first of the baby boomers,
Mahon said people of his gener-
ation --the largest market in North
America --have had to start watching
what they eat. As they become
more health conscious, they've
discovered better foods, and have
turned to the wonderfully versatile
world of whole grain eating.. The
past year or so, Canada's Food
Guide has reflected this change and
Canadians are encouraged to
cspnsume five to 12 servings of
grain products daily.
Barry spends the bulk of'his time
farming. their 130 -acres organically,
or maintaining the smooth flow of
the milling, toasting and packaging
of their product in their 200 x 80 -
foot self -automated plant. Karen,
meanwhile, mainly occupies herself
with the marketing aspect and the
mail order business. She does a lot
of travelling, and has been a
prominent figure in farmers'
markets in Stratford, Kitchener,
Goderich, St. Marys and Monkton,
and has spent .lots of time at
speaking engagements 'explaining
their method of business.
So far, 'their marketing strategy
has worked. The toasted oats are
shipped from Labrador to Victoria
to the Yukon as well as some
locales in the United States, not to
mention -local markets in Mitchell,
Seaforth, Exeter and ' other Huron
and Perth destinations.
Karen said their toasted oats, sold
in three flakes (regular, large and
'small) -and packed in either 5 kg or
10: kg packages, is also available in •
every, grocery store in Mitchell,
Seaforth and Exeter. She said they
try not to sell from their home,.
•turn to page 27
Charles C. Culbert
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