Local Supplier Spotlight: Beverly Creek Farms

Written by: Chef John Forcier, Director of Culinary Operations 

One of the best aspects of my job is being able to develop meaningful relationships with local suppliers.  Obviously, not all of the product we use in our restaurants is local to Southern Ontario (avocados just taste so good) but as much as possible we try to use the highest quality products from local farms/producers.

Equal Parts has been working with Beverly Creek for many years now and over time their quality and service have led us to bring on more and more of their products.  What started as a few lamb racks once a week has turned into almost 100% of the beef we use in our restaurants.

 Beverly Creek is a local producer of beef and lamb.  They produce quite a lot of their own product but also work with a network of smaller farmers who raise their animals to the same high standards as Beverly Creek does themselves. 

What do these high standards look like? For their beef, it means being pasture-fed until the last few months where they are slowly introduced to a specialized feed to help bulk them up. This feed includes spent brewers grain from Shawn & Ed Brewery, corn silage made from the entire stalk of corn, and local potatoes.  Not only are the animals local - their food is too! The lambs are raised completely on pasture, and just like the cattle, are growth-hormone free and antibiotic-free unless there is a specific need with an individual animal. 

Over the past few years, Beverly Creek has also invested in their own processing plant which is less than 5 minutes away from their main farm.  Having their own plant means the animals travel less distance and are put through far less stress than large-scale operations.  It also means that they can control all elements of the butchery process. Having visited several times myself, I can say with confidence that the animals are treated with respect throughout the entire process.