Our Company
GFS Ontario History |
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This is a story of family businesses merging with family businesses to bring us to where we are today.
In the early 1900s, Canada Packers, a meat packing company owned and operated by the McLean family, serviced the retail food market. In the early 1970s, the company expanded into the foodservice market in Ontario, opening a distribution centre in Bramalea. They sold centre of the plate items to restaurants and institutions across Ontario. The McLean family eventually sold their business to Hillsdown Holdings, who changed the name of the company to match their main brand—Maple Leaf. On January 1, 1994, GFS came to Canada and purchased the foodservice division of Maple Leaf (in Ontario and Quebec), becoming the first U.S. foodservice company to enter the Ontario marketplace. It immediately became apparent that the Gordons lived by their Cornerstone Values, and they were quickly adopted in Ontario. GFS Ontario opened its new distribution centre, in Milton, in January of 1996 and began the next step in their evolution.
One family company, Finlay Foods, began its history as Finley Fish in the early 1900s. As the retail business continued to develop, the real growth came when Charles Goldhar acquired the business from Mr. Finlay and developed the wholesale sector, selling to mainly local restaurants in Hamilton, Ontario. Over the next 20 years, the company name was changed to Hamilton Finlay Fish Limited, and finally to Finlay Foods. At that time, the distribution had expanded to include grocery stores and a branch location in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Haney Greenwood, created in the mid-1950s by Bob Haney and Sid Greenwood, was a frozen food distributor, servicing grocery stores, restaurants, and institutions. In 1975, Mr. Haney sold his shares of the business to Mr. Greenwood, who passed on the business to his sons.
In 1984, the companies of Finlay Foods and Haney Greenwood had merged to become Finlay Greenwood, a company servicing chain businesses across Ontario and independent street business in the Toronto, Hamilton, and Niagara regions. In 1996, Finlay Greenwood became a part of GFS in Ontario, bringing with it, an extensive history.
Together, these companies have joined resources, experience, and dedication, to make GFS Ontario a leader in the industry.
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