Founded in 1920, by two enterprising brothers, William and Carl Huzul, Huzul’s Meat & Deli has established itself as one of the oldest and most respected family-run businesses in Brantford.
Dave Huzul, who took over from his father Albert three decades ago, explained the shop’s beginnings.
“The two founding members, my grandfather (Carl) and his brother (William) came to Canada, around 1915 and they established the business five years later. The original location of the shop was in uptown Brantford, and over the years, one of the brothers, Carl, kept the business going,” Huzul said. “In 1937, the shop moved to 139 Pearl Street, which is our current location, and eventually William and that side of the family [decided] not to continue to be part of the business. My dad took it over in the 1960s…then I took it over from him [and] have been running it for the past 30 years.”
Despite the ups and downs in the economy over the last century, Huzul’s Meat & Deli has remained steady because of their focus on offering quality products and using a traditional method.
“I make all my own products…like back bacon and peameal bacon…and then I smoke my own side bacon. We continue with an old-fashioned method, which is real wood smoke. There’s almost no one doing this anymore [with] only us and another shop left in Ontario continuing with this method,” Huzul explained. “There is no nitrate or filler added to any of the bacon or Polish Kielbasa [and] we don’t pump the bacon up, like [many of] other companies do. Everything is natural [and] that’s really rare in the market…because it’s not easy to do.”
However, along with using top ingredients, Huzul makes sure to use high-quality, locally-sourced wood for his traditional meat smoking process.
“I don’t specifically use a straight kind of wood all the time. We’ve been using maple and hickory quite a bit [and] throwing in some cherry wood. Sometimes it depends on what my supplier from Burford has in stock, but I [primarily] use those three kinds of wood,” said Huzul.
Huzul’s Meat & Deli has also grown its reach in the community by being an integral part of Brantford Farmers Market for the past 104 years.
“We’re the longest serving vendor there…we’ve been at the market for years while it has gone through various changes including moving to different locations. Many of the older vendors have since left, [but] new ones are coming in…everybody has their niche at the market,” Huzul noted. “I draw a little bit of traffic at the market as I have a long history in the community and have been able to do well even when there is a downturn in the [economy].”
Although the shop continues to do well by maintaining relationships with generations of families in the community, it has also appealed to people moving into the city.
“We get a lot of business from families that have been coming here for generations. We have people who buy from us now just as their parents and grandparents did before. There have been many changes as Brantford continues growing, but we always get a lot of support from the community,” Huzul said. “But many people haven’t heard of us because they are new to the area. They sometimes find us when they come to the Brantford Farmers Market; and they try our meats, enjoy them, and end up coming back.”
While Huzul has family helping out, he is trying to see if someone in the family is looking to continue the tradition.
“The kids in the family have all been trained a little bit… my son James, who’s 13, has been coming up to the market and he’s been learning…but I’m seeing if one of the family members is going to jump in and take it over down the road,” Huzul explained. “It’s tough to get family members involved and committed to continuing with the business…[as] there are easier career [paths] to consider.”
Despite this, Huzul continues to be humbled by the community’s support.
“Although we really didn’t do a celebration because it was during the pandemic, our 100th anniversary was an incredible highlight [and] even at that time, there was a little boom in business, where the community came out to help support local,” said Huzul. “And it’s [certainly] been an honour and privilege for our family to be serving Brantford and surrounding areas for over 100 years.”
