1996
FANTASTICO!
How many Juicy Jumbos did Schneiders sell in their 1st year?
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Enough to reach from the plant in Kitchener all the way to Rome. Yes, the one in Italy.
"If a thing goes wrong, fix it up at once and fix it so that it won’t happen again."
J.M. Schneider
1986
HEALTHIER LIVING
Schneiders jumps on the health food craze.
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Under the ‘Lifestyle’ name, Schneiders launched 28 different products with less fat, fewer calories and reduced salt. They kept the traditional great taste, but became more appealing to newly health-conscious consumers.
"You can’t earn your salary sitting at your desk. You’ve got to mix with the people and get your feet into the business."
J.M. Schneider
1979
GLOBAL SUCCESS
Schneiders expands around the world.
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By the close of the 1970s, the Schneiders name was on over 2,000 products being sold in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and Hong Kong. Eighty per cent of them were still made at the home facility in Kitchener.
"If it’s not good enough for my family, it’s not good enough for yours."
J.M. Schneider
1969
RAISE A STEIN
Schneiders becomes a part of Kitchener-Waterloo culture.
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Only appropriate given its German heritage, Schneiders developed the official Oktoberfest sausage for the annual community tradition that’s now become the largest Bavarian festival in North America.
"Make your own mistakes, but don’t make the same mistake twice."
J.M. Schneider
1950
THE HOUSEWIFE ERA
Schneiders quality, with modern convenience.
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By the end of the 1950s, the Schneiders name was on 160 different products, and they were producing 73 million wieners a year. As the first company in Canada to introduce vacuum packaging, Schneiders brought more convenient mealtime options to consumers, and gave retailers products with greater shelf life and appeal.
1944
GIRL POWER
Women join the workforce at Schneiders.
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With so many men fighting overseas, the women of Kitchener joined the workforce at the Schneiders plant. Of 555 employees, a record 137 were women. Even after the men returned from the war, the women stayed on and were an important part of the continued growth and success of the company.
1941
SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS
World War II and J.M.’s bacon.
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Schneiders was part of a huge group effort to provide food to soldiers fighting overseas in World War II. Along with other Canadian manufacturers, they collectively shipped 8 million pounds of Wiltshire bacon, along with additional hams, backs and shoulders, to Britain each week. That’s 100,000 hogs a week – about 3 times the normal amount.
1930
ONE BIG FAMILY
J.M. and his company defy the Great Depression.
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Faced with shrinking sales, J.M. called his staff together and laid it on the line for them. They hunkered down, reduced hours but didn’t lay anyone off, and everyone pitched in to reduce operating costs. While other companies faced layoffs and strikes, Schneiders actually showed a small profit. J.M. and his wife became known in Kitchener for their generosity, always having food to share with the unemployed.
1920
The Cherry Tree
Another fateful accident. This time, not J.M.’s.
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For almost 25 years, Wilhelm Rohleder guarded his recipes like state secrets. Nobody else at Schneiders knew what went into his wildly popular sausages. One day, Rohleder fell out of a tree and broke some ribs. He recovered, but J.M. realized how dangerous it was to have such important knowledge in the head of only one man. So he devised a plan: he paid for Rohleder and his wife to visit family back in Germany for a few weeks. Because business would have to go on, Rohleder was forced to tell his secret recipes to J.M.
1886
A Fateful Accident
J.M. lands himself out of work, with a family to feed.
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He worked a 10-hour day for $1, 6 days a week, on the assembly line at the Dominion Button Works. At the time, Kitchener (then called Berlin) was the button manufacturing capital of Canada. When he injured his hand in an accident and was kept away from work for over a month, J.M. needed a plan. Being an industrious and resourceful man with a farming background, he, his wife and his mother started making traditional German sausages in their kitchen, and selling them door-to-door.