Vernon Sausage Company new building on Waddington Drive. (File photo/Vernon Matters)

By Kevin Rothwell

Major expansion

Vernon company getting close to opening new $9.6M building

Jul 27, 2022 | 5:00 AM

It has been a wild two-year ride for Helmut West Jr. and his team at Vernon Sausage Company.

They are navigating all kinds of challenges in constructing a 25,000 square foot facility on Waddington Drive.

The company currently operates an 8,900 sq. ft. deli and plant on 48th Avenue in Vernon and a store in Kelowna under the Helmut’s Sausage Kitchen name.

Helmut’s Sausage Kitchen (Erik Ferguson photo)

The new plant will focus on high quality products using state of the art equipment from Europe for the curing and drying process. Northwest European Master tradesmen will be brought in to train local staff in the fine art of producing specialty meats.

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The $9.6-million project is on budget, a huge feat given skyrocketing material and labour costs.

“We started three-years ago and were able to bypass some of the astronomical price increases,” West said. “Our funder is BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada). They deal a lot with larger manufacturing projects. The regional manager came out and we are the only project that is within budget.”

The project is about 85 per cent complete, but the last 15 per cent also includes the installation of specialized equipment for the production of the “Artisan Okanagan Charcuterie” brand.

“It’s not just luck of the draw either. I would trust our contractor with my life. He was one of my best friends growing up, there is no better person doing this build than him.” West said.

West saw it as a natural partnership with the wine, cider, distilling and cheese industries in the region, and leveraging that into other markets in Canada.

The company hopes to be operational in late September.

“We are waiting for one container of equipment that is stuck in Europe due to a dockyard strike. It is literally the last container to get out the door.” West explained.

One of the other major hold-ups is B.C. Hydro which is struggling with staffing issues.

“We will plunk down a diesel generator the size of a semi if we have to. Production will get underway,” West added.

Hiring has been a challenge with entry level positions proving the most difficult to fill.

The plan calls for seven to 12 new employees initially with the workforce expected to double within three years.

“We have had very little local response with starting wages at $19.75 an hour and jumping to $22 or $23 after three months,” West lamented. “Therefore we have turned to the RNIP program (North Okanagan Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot) for workers, and that is proving most viable for us.”

Skilled personnel will be added, including inspection, as the facility with be designated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as a Safe Food for Canada facility, allowing for export to other provinces. The plan calls for organic and SQF (Safe Quality Food) designations as well.

On the financial side, West expects $6- to 8-million worth of production in year one, increasing to $10 million by year three and eventually scaling up to $25 million annually.

“We are coming from operating at 120 per cent over capacity, stepping into a new facility that will literally be running at five per cent capacity. We don’t take a lot of risks, so we intend to grow conservatively, as the market and labour allows,” West added.

While the new building has a footprint of 25,000 square feet, it also has 30 foot ceilings allowing for a layering capacity of close to 100,000 square feet.

“Ground is expensive, so let’s go up. We really took advantage of that.” West said.