While the original floorplan for the Valbella Gourmet Foods building was drawn out on the most fleeting of mediums, beach sand, the business has proven to be a rock of longevity in the valley.
Yes, after separately moving to the Bow Valley from Switzerland in the mid-1970s, then meeting in Banff before getting married and opening an initial Alpine Meats in downtown Canmore in 1978, Walter and Leonie von Rotz were on a holiday in Mexico and, at 5 a.m., “stepped it all out in the sand on a beach,” said son Jeff von Rotz.
That sand drawing became the reality of the current building on Elk Run Boulevard and initial product offerings anchored by Farmer’s Bratwurst now range to 150 products – 40 years later.
Along the way, Valbella has grown from a two-person, 1,000 square foot deli, cafe and production plant to 40,000 square feet and 40 full time employees.
Walter, a butcher by trade, and Leonie met in The Paris Restaurant in Banff, where he was a cook and she a waitress. Not long after, Alpine Meats/deli became a reality on Sixth Avenue in Canmore and the couple never looked back.
Today, daughter Chantal and son Jeff are mostly in charge, with mom and dad easing up on the day-to-day workings of Valbella Gourmet Foods. Chantal handles front of house, deli and office while Jeff is back of house with production and wholesale.
“In 1980, this was the first building in the industrial park,” said Jeff. “Since then, it’s been added onto about five times. It’s been natural, organic growth; as business increased, they were able to add on and grow.”
The original building had a second floor added and the addition of smokehouses, coolers, packaging, grinders, and other equipment from Switzerland and Germany called for continual expansion.
Moving from the downtown Alpine Meats to the Elk Run Valbella building was risky because, in 1979, Canmore Mines closed and the town faced some hard times. Fortunately, though, Walter had forged solid relationships with European chefs, a solid customer base was created with quality products, and wholesale was added to retail, with customers like then-CP hotels, restaurants and CMH wanted their products.
“It all started with retail,” said Jeff, “but wholesale allowed us to grow faster and nobody in Western Canada had the same kind of products.
“Swiss and French chefs in the valley were used to working with meats like dad was making and he built good relationships by saying, ‘let’s have a coffee or schnapps’ and then talk about what he had to offer.”
To cement relationships he was building, Walter even created a mobile knife sharpening business. “He built connections and, as a butcher, he knew how to sharpen knives,” said Chantal.
“And dad has always been creative at coming up with new creations, knowing what people and chefs wanted and recognizing trends before they happen.”
The focus from day one, said Jeff, “has been on value added products and in creating something where the knowledge is there.”
Today, bacon is the top seller at Valbella, followed by hams and deli meats. Shelves are filled with deli dry goods, coolers with sausage, meat and fruit pies, burgers, air cured and smoked meats ...
“Cured meats set us apart,” said Chantal, “and we’re selling more ready foods like soups and pies in the last five years. People are so busy and moms and dads are both working, but they want quality, nutritious food that’s easy.
“And we’ve had people coming here for years. We’re just off the highway and have lots of parking, so RVs come by and campers stock up their coolers, semi drivers come in regularly and we have some customers who have ordered the same thing every day for five years.”
Not surprisingly, Chantal and Jeff themselves grew up in the business. They washed dishes, hung cured meats on racks and were generally handy hands for their parents. Both left the valley for a few years, including living in Switzerland, then returned seven years ago and are now immersed in the business.
“We get good word of mouth advertising,” said Jeff, “we have loyal customers and some staff who have been here for 20 years.”
“We’re a fairly big company,” said Chantal, “but we run as a small family business. We want to keep a small artisan charm and focus on quality over quantity.”
Valbella relies on top Alberta producers of beef and pork, with some poultry from outside the province, “and we like to show we can do a lot more than just meat processing,” said Jeff. “We have a lot of knowledge and experience and I think we’ll have some new and exciting changes coming.”
“Mom and dad still love working here,” said Chantal. “We’re all on the same page and want the same things and work hard.”
As an example of the work that goes into Valbella products, smoked bison is a prime example.
After an order of outside round bison meat comes in, said Jeff, it is trimmed to specification, then cured in salt and spices for a month. After being hung for a day in a smoker, it is then air dried for four months.
To say the least, Valbella’s popular smoked bison is not fast food.
