The Rural Voice, 1993-11, Page 28GALL IIS
_.,--
rFOR
FORALL YOUR DAIRY AND FEED HANDLING
EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS
• Orbit 2000 milker (automatic shut off)
• Alamo vacuum pumps
• Automatic take -offs
• Starline
• Jamesway
• Oswalt mixers
• Lucknow mixers
• Big Jim silo unloaders
• Bobco power feed carts and straw choppers
• Rissler T.M.R. mix carts
CaII: John at 522-1935 or 642-7372
Hank at 522-1935 or 522-0416
HURON DAIRY EQUIPMENT LTD.
R. R. 4, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO SURGE
FARM 8. MUNICIPAL
DRAINAGE
Specializing in:
• Farm & Municipal Drainage
• Clay & Plastic Tile Installations
• Backhoe & Dozer Service
• Septic System Installations
For Qualify, Experience, & Service calla
PARKER
PARKER
Wayne Cook
(519) 236-7390
R.R.2 Zurich, Ont.
NOM 2T0
24 THE RURAL VOICE
baking adds taste and good nutrition.
Recipes are included in each box of
Hilton Farms oats and people who
bake with them rave about the taste,
Mahon says. But, he says, it's just
good home cooking with good
ingredients. Too many commercially
baked goods are made with cheap
ingredients, robbing them of taste
and quality, he argues.
Building a clientele through the
personal touch route is "a slow
process but at least it's solid," Mahon
says. "If the customers enjoy your
product they'll stay with you."
The option is trying to battle your
way into the retail market and he's
convinced there is no money in that,
particularly in the large retail chains.
Retail chains want the cheapest price
they can get and if you think your
product is worth more than the
opposition, they don't care because
the ordinary consumer buys only on
price. "I'm not about to cut deals. I
can't do it because I'm not big
enough."
The advantage of having hundreds
of little customers all across the
country is that loss of one customer
can't hurt too much. If you have one
big customer you never know when
the plug might be pulled, he says.
The oatmeal is shipped to every
province and territory in Canada,
including Labrador and the
Northwest Territories, packed in
plastic inside a brown box. There are
two sizes, 5 kg and 10 kg but some
people order two or three boxes at a
time. People from the area drop by to
pick up larger quantities, up to 75
and 100 kg at a time. "Some people
eat a lot of oats," Mahon says.
As well as recipes, each box
contains a newsletter to let customers
know more about the people who
process their oatmeal. It's part of the
personal touch of building customer
loyalty.
Besides the mail order business,
several local stores handle Hilton
Farms oats and a small wholesaler,
just starting up, has been distributing
their oats. The oats are grown on the
Mahon's own 135 -acre farm using
the new hull -less oats that show real
potential for farmers, Barry says.
This year yields were as good as
wheat and the protein level is very
high. The new oats have been
proposed as a replacement for