What started as a farmer’s hobby was the right recipe for a successful business. And 35 years later Richard and Craig Laciok continue to use the same recipe created by their company’s namesake, and their father and grandfather, Vik.
Viktor Laciok opened a small country meat store in Grassie in December 1977. The farmer already had quite a following for his kielbasa and sausage when he opened the shop on Regional Road 12. He had been making both for years, perfecting the recipe, and handing them out to friends and family around the holidays. Everything was made the traditional way starting with lean quality meat, seasoned with the right blend of spices and smoked to perfection in a smokehouse Vik constructed himself.
Vik’s first meat order was from a distributor in Brantford, Ont. It was hard to find a supplier who would deliver such a small order — two hams, recalls Richard, who joined the business one year later. With those two hams, the Laciok’s could create roughly 30 pounds of kielbasa — not enough to keep the doors of the butcher shop open and feed Richard’s young family.
“For dad, it was more of a hobby, he didn’t take it too serious in the beginning,” explains Richard, sitting in an office in the newly renovated Vik’s Country Meats, still in its original location. “But I couldn’t only bring home bacon. So we hit the road and checked out some local vendors we thought might want to carry it.”
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