The Rural Voice, 1993-11, Page 27Mahon with his milling equipment:
Marketing plan evolved slowly.
are fewer people along the line to
take their share of the price.
As for quality, Mahon explains
that while Hilton Farms has a whole -
grain product, most oatmeal on the
market has at least part of the bran
removed. With the discovery that oat
bran has significant healthful
qualities, companies milling oats
found they had a hugely profitable
product on their hands and began to
get as much of the bran out of
oatmeal as possible so they could sell
it separately. One customer in British
Columbia told Mahon that she didn't
think she could get whole -grain
oatmeal anywhere in her province.
The whiter the oatmeal, and the
faster cooking the porridge, the less
bran is left on the oats. Instant, just -
add -hot -water -and -stir oatmeal, is
pretty much oat flour, he says (it
takes longer to cook the bran on
oatmeal). The fact all the bran is left
on the Hilton Farms Oats has caused
concern on the part of some
customers. The company makes it a
point of having its telephone number
on the side of its boxes so customers
can call with questions, concerns,
praise or complaints. One customer
called worried that the oats were
coarser than the oats they
were used to and the
colour was browner. The
explanation was that the
bran made it that way.
While people may
take a while to get used
to the different colour
and texture of the whole -
grain oats, they don't
take long to get used to
the taste. Mahon says one
of the pleasures of the
business is having
mothers come to him to
tell how much their
children like eating the
whole -grain oatmeal.
Personal contact is
a big part of the Hilton
Farms business.
Customers are recruited
virtually one at a time
through sales at markets.
The Mahons tried
advertising in
Harrowsmith magazine at one point
but found little response. People have
to see the product first hand before
they're likely to venture to send an
order through the mail, he feels. With
that in mind, the Mahons appear at
the farmers market in Waterloo each
week and also were at the
International Plowing Match at
Walkerton. A lot of new food
products trace their beginnings to
farmers markets, he says, where
someone can rent a stall and reach
customers directly instead of having
to find a way into the massive food -
products distribution system.
A benefit of the farmers' market
visits is a chance to talk directly to
the customers. "A lot of people are
coming to us and giving us
experiences of what we do with oat
meal. People who have it as a steady
part of their diet maintain oatmeal
helps keep off weight. Oatmeal will
carry fat through the body; won't let
it be stored in the body.
"I'm convinced that there is a lot
more to oats than what people really
know."
Besides being used as a hot cereal,
oatmeal is a versatile, healthy
ingredient in cooking. Granola is
easy to make and makes a good cold
cereal, he says, and oatmeal used in
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NOVEMBER 1993 23