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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - DECEMBER 2014
H
EADQUARTERED IN TO -
RONTO,
Ontario, is a dynamic
food company that has changed with
the times—and the demands of a
growing customer base.
TWI Foods started in 1997 in
a very small facility, less than 5,000
square feet. The company was started
by Ali Kizilbash, a chemical engineer
by training. The company was initially
a specialty food business, offering a
range of high-quality cake-rusks, cook-
ies, cakes and frozen food items aimed
at the South-Asian ethnic segment in
Canada. While other food companies
were aiming to sell products for the
lowest price, TWI Foods Inc. chose to
build its foundation based on a time-
less model: Quality. The market at the
time in Canada was starting to diver-
sify with consumers recognizing the
wonderful flavours of other cultures.
Since the late 90s, international
foods have become increasingly popu-
lar, and TWI Foods has capitalized on
this trend.
A DIVERSE PRODUCT LINE
“
We were unable to keep up to
demand once our product base grew
in our existing building,” says Hyder
Hasan, production manager for TWI.
“
We grew to need a 32,000 square foot
space and then grew again and needed
even more space. About 2 years ago,
we finally decided that it was time to
get into an 185,000 square foot facility
and that’s where we house our opera-
tions today.”
TWI has diversified operations to stay
competitive over the years, ventur-
ing into co-packing and mixing up
its product line. “We have changed
our product line over the years but
always offering ethnic products. We
started with the South Asian market
and then went mainstream, our naan
in one of our star products now that
has been very nicely received by the
South Asian and mainstream markets.
We are now tweaking our South Asian
products to make them suitable for
mainstream sales as well,” Hasan com-
ments.
“
We have responded to customer
needs and now have a confectionary
as well as our original product line,”
Hasan notes. TWI has also improved
its infrastructure, maintaining a state-
TWI FOODS
