28 Years of Serving the Food Industry
1979 saw the creation of a new supplier to the food industry in Canada: Markham Meat Industry Supplies Inc., with the trade name of MMIS Inc. Owner Bert Zetzl had previously worked for more than 12 years as Sales Manager and Product Manager for Hoeschst, (today known as Aventis), one of the largest chemical corporations in the world. In his positions, he introduced many new chemicals to Canada and in 1967, he was the first to sell German-produced NALO artificial sausage casings in North America. His first agency for the newly-formed MMIS Inc. was Wolff Walsrode AG, a Bayer Chemical subsidiary and one of the largest producers of packaging films and casings. Today the casing division is known as CaseTech and selling under the brand name of Walsroder.
Bert Zetzl, Owner & Founder
After a successful start selling casings, local converting facilities for tying and printing were added. Over the years, all other manufacturers have dismantled their converting facilities in Canada. As the only remaining converter, MMIS Inc. is the Canadian food industry's fastest supplier of converted casings.
Hoegger Alpina (Switzerland), a manufacturer of sausage clipping machines, asked MMIS Inc. to be their Canadian agent in 1981; a well-suited product line to complement the sales of casings. Since Alpina manufactured choppers and fillers as well, MMIS Inc. started the Equipment Division in 1981. Technical sales representatives and service personnel were trained to look after this equipment. The following years saw the growth of MMIS Inc. with the addition of other well-known corporate agencies including: Dorit (Switzerland), Kerres, Weber, BK Giulini, Moguntia, Eicker, Frey, Guenther, BE, and Nock (Germany), Laska (Austria), Henkelman (Holland), and others. Some of these companies have since changed ownership and been amalgamated with other corporate entities.
In 1987, MMIS Inc. built its own facility in Aurora, ON, on the outskirts of Toronto. The converting facilities for casings and the service shop for equipment were enlarged and an equipment demonstration room was created.
Mondo Spice, a western Canada spice company was acquired by MMIS Inc. in 2001 and its operations were moved to Aurora, ON. The company was renamed MMIS Mondo Inc. The production area was doubled and new employees and equipment were added. Technical sales professionals were hired to give our customers the advice they demand in today's competitive environment.
For further expansion in the future, MMIS Inc. has just acquired a large plot of land. Also, the oldest son of the owner, Bert Zetzl, has already been studying Food Science for several years at the University of Guelph. We hope the family tradition of serving the food industry will continue for many more years.
