Making muffins, bread and sandwiches found in convenience and grocery stores across Newfoundland and Labrador, Smith Snacks has been operating for over 50 years. What started as a one-man operation in a home kitchen has grown into a wholesale food business that supplies snacks to retailers across the entire province. Still in the family, the second generation has big plans for the company’s future.

From Smith’s kitchen

Howard Smith found inspiration for the namesake family snack business while working in Toronto. After leaving Newfoundland at around 17 years old, he worked many odd jobs and found a particular interest in catering. Drawing on his family’s history of entrepreneurship, he decided to start his own venture. So, he bought a truck and moved back to his home province to establish Smith Snacks in Norman’s Cove, Newfoundland, in 1971.

Smith Snacks initially started as a food truck catering business. Smith prepared food in his home kitchen daily and then travelled to St. John’s to drive his route around the city selling food directly to customers. From the early days, Smith had a fairly elaborate menu that included sandwiches, fish and chips, jigs dinner, peppered steak and chicken and rice.

Growing strong

As the business grew, Smith established an official facility for preparing food in 1973 and slowly brought his catering business from a single food truck to a fleet of 22. In 1985, he expanded operations further by launching a wholesale division that supplied Smith Snacks sandwiches and other food to local convenience and grocery stores. He began by establishing retail partnerships on the province’s east coast and moved west.

Both the catering and wholesale branches of the family business operated concurrently until 1994, when its food trucks were retired to focus exclusively on wholesale. Eventually, Smith Snacks products could be found in stores across Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition to its own sandwiches, muffins, cookies and other baked goods made in Norman’s Cove, the company established partnerships to supply retailers with candy, chocolate and pickled products.

Second generation

Representing the second generation, Howard’s son Jason has been involved in the family business since he was a young boy. One of the major changes Jason introduced as a manager was modernising the company’s invoicing, accounting, production scheduling and other operations with technology. Jason says he drew on lessons from his father about understanding their customers and built the same level of service into custom technology.

Jason officially took over as Owner and Operator of Smith Snacks in 2009.

Still in the family

Today, Smith Snacks maintains operations in Norman’s Cove, Newfoundland. Now with a team of 50, the family-owned business continues to focus on its wholesale model, working with convenience stores and supermarkets. Looking towards the future, Smith says his goal is to utilise product innovation and the company’s packaging capabilities to see significant growth in their bakery and other products primarily found in grocery stores.

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