Ben and Lenie van Soest came to Canada in 1950 via boat from Holland. They settled in JasperPlace, Alberta (later to become a part of Edmonton). Ben was a meat cutter by trade and worked for Canada Packers until October of 1953, when he then opened his own meat shop. In 1956, a new building was erected in the same location. The business continues to operate in this building today. In 1969, Ben’s son-in-law, Pieter van Leeuwen, started working for him as a meat cutter. After working for Ben for seven years, Pieter and his wife Erica, bought the store from Ben in 1976. Pieter and Erica successfully ran and expanded the business to include Dutch imports. In 1986, Pieter and Erica’s son, David, started working part-time in the store, helping out with cleaning and other odd jobs. David’s interest in the meat business grew and he took a meat cutting course at NAIT, graduating in May of 1992. In October of 1999, David and his wife Brenda, bought the store from Pieter and Erica. In 2007, Dave and Brenda purchased the building and expanded the business from 1400 sq feet to 3600 sqare feet, occupying both bays of the original building. With expansion came more space and more product. In the spring of 2011, the store went under more renovations. New deli cases and counters where put in replacing the original show cases put in by Dave’s grandfatherBen in 1956. While the new cases are great, Dave is a little sad to see a piece of history go. Dave and Brenda continue to operate this third generation family business today and it continues to grow and thrive thanks to its loyal customers! We will be celebrating 60 YEARS in business this fall!!
