Trump rates or not, the CEO of Canada’s Beavertails is ready to compete against the US – one fried treat at the same time

“We are committed to bring Canada to the US, and I know that is a challenge nowadays,” says Di Ioia. “We really believe, humble, that we are a very good vehicle to represent Canadian snacks in the US”

The typical Canadian treat debuted on the Killaloe Craft and Community Fair in the Ottawa Valley in 1978, where Grant Hooker and his wife Pam sold a cake that was pioneered by his grandmother.

In 1980, Grant handed the first cottage-inspired Beavertail stand for the Byward market of Ottawa, which became so popular that the couple became the first to set up a stall on the Rideau channel.

Nowadays, the 47 physical stores of the company and around 140 temporary stalls, trucks and kiosks can be found that go just about everywhere in Canadians to celebrate.

“With full a compliment for Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s and Starbucks, you need your morning coffee; you don’t need a Beavertail,” says Di Ioia. “We puncture memorable moments, whether you are in the Toronto Zoo, Wonderland, Blue Mountain or the Waterkant.”

As a company that even enjoys the most enthusiastic of its millions of customers only a handful of times a year, Beavertails has learned to lean in its special treatment status.

The brand reaches new heights after the introduction of other Canadian classics such as Poutine and the home experience on the Beavertails experience through its cookies, spreads, IJsandwiches – even scented candles and vodka.

Beavertails has seen consistent growth since Ioia took over ownership in 2011, together with his wife and twin brother, although his story with the franchise started much earlier.

In 1987, Di Iioia became the first employee of the company outside Ottawa, then the first franchisee, and was later responsible for developing and overseeing the Quebec market before he became CEO in 2001.

De Ster recently caught up with Di Iioia from the company’s headquarters in Montreal to discuss how the treat has remained so sticky with Canadian consumers, why he believes that the world is enthusiastic for a preview and why the brand does not take itself – or calories – is too seriously ready to deliver.

I was always a bit of an entrepreneur.

When I grew up, collected and sell golf balls back to the golfers in addition to a public golf course, together with soft drinks and snacks, from the age of 11. That is also where my love of hospitality started. That company gave me enough money to start a T-shirt printing company.

When I was at Champlain College, I applied in a clothing store to learn more about that industry, but I didn’t get the job and was looking for something to do that summer.

Around the same time, the founders of Beavertail, Grant and Pam Hooker were looking for students to work at their first location in Quebec in the Laronde amusement park in the summers. They went to the only English -language university campus on their way to La Ronde to place an advertisement in the student newspaper.

As was lucky, the newspaper editor was not on that day that day, so they knocked on the adjacent office, the office of the student council, where they met the president of the student council – I was.

They seemed a wonderful couple, and it seemed like a challenging and intriguing opportunity. They were in Ottawa, and they were looking for someone who was entrepreneurial and could send the ship for them in Montreal, which was perfect for me.

I managed their La Ronde location for four summers until I had completed my marketing student at McGill and I applied to the Business School, but I didn’t think I would come in.

I didn’t even have a car, but that summer I took the train to Ottawa and approached the founders and said: “Would you consider selling me the store where I worked when your first franchise?” I argued that if a young punk as I could be successful, they could say that someone could do it and it worked.

Then I came to the MBA program at McGill, where I did every research article about my own company. My twin brother, Anthony, came in the same program. We are both entrepreneurial, but he is much more analytical while I am more operational.

However, the original owners had some problems with their expansion. It took us a long time to realize that we could not succeed in commercial areas; We are reserved for special occasions and memorable moments, not between the Loblaws and Esso in a strip of Mall.

By 2001 it was clear that they could not continue that version of growth. They let go of their team in Ottawa, hired Anthony, my wife Tina and I for a combined sum of $ 10,000, and gave us shares of the company, with a mandate to turn it around. That is when I was set up as a CEO, my brother was called CFO and my wife Tina Serrao is our creative director.

We said that the day we don’t enjoy doing this, the day we sell it, and that day did not come. There are ups and downs, such as in every company, but we had a lot of fun to grow it.

My very analytical accountant brother was in his element at that time in financial restructuring, while my wife and I had to define what we had sold.

We realized that there was something magical about this product that was essentially a donut that we sold for the equivalent of $ 100 per dozen. That bending point is where the financial magic affects operations and marketing magic. This is a premium product, and just like Starbucks we sell an experience, an atmosphere – not just a product.

Our stores already looked like houses, but we really doubled by offering a typical Canadian brand experience through our decor, and our products, such as our Maple toppings.

One day a franchisee suggested that, since we already have the fryer and outlet equipment, why not sell fries? But everyone sells fries, so we looked at it through the Canadian lens and said, “Let’s do poutine.”

It became so popular that we have added a product with the name The Beaverdog-a hot dog of the entire beef wrapped in a Beavertail who became so successful that we made four different species. Now we have a very savory thing with products that are typically Canadian and you can’t get anywhere else.

Since we bought the company in 2011, we have had continuous growth on an annual basis and doubled our turnover during Covid.

After the first wave, people wanted to go back to those iconic memorable places where we are already present, especially outdoor recreational sites, but we also saw an enormous question in unexpected places.

Festivals were canceled, so our food trucks would park in parking places for supermarkets. People were so excited to have a treat during what their only family outing could be that week to pick up groceries.

We have also made a conscious attempt to develop some packaged goods that people could take home or buy in the supermarket, such as Beavertails Ice Cream Sandwiches, Baked-on-Site Cookies for the bakery section and spreads that emulate the taste of beavertails. So now we can keep the liveliness of the brand and be part of special moments that take place in your living room.

Then we have more crazy, such as our collaboration with the Whitewater Brewery outside Ottawa, who did a cinnamon sugar -storage tails inspired artisan beer, followed by a chocolate hazelnut.

We now have a partnership with Polar Ice Vodka, which does a Beavertails Cinnamon Sugar Wodka, and we work together with Seracon to develop three unique beavertails scented candles.

All these products celebrate the typical atmosphere of Canadiana and punctuate memorable moments.

We are modest and proud to have two locations in the United States, and that is an important part of our plans – despite the rates. We are also at Christmas markets in France that reach Belgium, and one store in Qatar that opened two years ago. We used to be in Japan, Mexico and Korea, but unfortunately that Covid did not survive.

We are very enthusiastic to export a little bit of Canada abroad, and when someone is interested and resources to do this, we are always interested in exploring it.

Elephanties are an American invention, but a generic invention.

It is not a brand, the name is not a trademark and everyone can sell them, so you may have a few who come close to the taste of beavertails, and others who are just fried pizza babeeg.

We believe that those products have sown the site for a unique, consistent, Canadian version. We are the only brand product in our category worldwide.

We are committed to bring Canada to the US, and I know that nowadays is a challenge.

We really believe, humble, that we are a very good vehicle to represent Canadian snacks in the US, whether that is poutine or beavers or beverages.

That is our intention to move forward.