The federal government has announced $1 million to help Windsor-based Cedar Valley Selections expand to meet growing demand for its pita chips.
On Tuesday, Ruby Sahota, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk announced the FedDev investment, a repayable loan.
The family-owned Cedar Valley, established in 2017, recently moved into a new 12,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art space at 3040 Deziel Dr. in Windsor.
.?@rubysahotalib? announces a $1 million investment from ?@FedDevOntario? for Windsor-based Cedar Valley Selections. The repayable loan will help the pita chip maker add automated equipment and more staff to meeting growing demand. ?@Irek_K? ?@AM800CKLW? pic.twitter.com/WIJZCkQRsl
— Rusty Thomson (@RustyThomson800) January 14, 2025
Ameen Fadel, co-founder and president of Cedar Valley, says the funds will be specifically used to invest in manufacturing equipment as well as staff.
"We've doubled our business year over year, and we have a lot of opportunity, especially in the states right now, to grow our business," he says. "So we really need to automate to increase our capacity, and with that automation, with more business coming along, we need more business and more staff.
Fadel says their business has grown a lot more than expected, and they're going to use these additional funds to grow even more.
"Really it will let us become the number one pita chip company in Canada and a really big competitor in the United States because we're going up against a big conglomerate as a small family company. We do have a big challenge on our hands, but we're very excited to see that growth come and use that investment to become the number one pita chip company, hopefully, in North America," he says.
Cedar Valley pita chips are available at many leading retailers across Canada, including Sobeys, Loblaws, and Costco, but the company is trying to meet growing demand across the country and into the United States.
