The Elite Meat Company™ (a Division of D&S Meat Products Ltd.), is a Federally Inspected meat processing facility (Establishment#525) and is HACCP Recognized since 2001.
The Family business, owned by Dan and Sasha Milanovic, evolved from a very successful family retail meat business founded in 1973 on Toronto's Gerrard Street, by Radovan and Ljubica Milanovic. In 1979 they sold their store on Gerrard Street and moved to their new and larger location on Danforth Avenue. Both the boys grew from a young age, helping and working with their parents in the family business, learning the meat business and how important their customers are.
Upon Mr and Mrs. Milanovic's decision to retire from the meat industry in 1994, Dan and Sasha decided to open D&S Meat products Ltd. in 1995. This new facility would be a Federally Inspected Meat Processing Plant, that would be supplying new and old customers, with the best quality Peameal Bacon, Fresh Pork Cuts, Custom Ground and Diced Beef, Pork, Veal, Chicken and Lamb, for further processor's, retailers and food service operators.
Success and growth followed the Milanovic brothers, as did many new opportunities for business development in our four product categories. This qualified the need for a substantial expansion that would allow for North American distribution and capability. In the fall of 2006, the newly expanded plant opened, now 5 times its previous capacity and capability. This allowed us to increase our grinding and dicing capabilities to better serve our further processing customers. This is not a sideline business for us, this is our core business, and we source raw materials globally to ensure our customers' specifications are met and that we offer them the best product at a reasonable price. This makes us the grinding and dicing experts!
Until 2006, D&S Meat Products Ltd. serviced a regional market in Ontario from a small, but efficient Federally Inspected Processing Plant in Ajax, Ontario, through direct store delivery and a small number of selected distributor's. With our new ability to export and serve a North American market, and global market, the first target market segment for growth was food service, with Peameal Bacon as the primary product focus.
In 2008, D&S Meat Products Ltd., responded to the heightening brand awareness and growth of their "Elite Meat Company" brand, and officially became "The Elite Meat Company™ (a division of D&S Meat products Ltd.).Building on the new company name, and to strengthen the growing popularity of our Peameal Bacon, we created a new brand; The Elite Meat Peameal Bacon Company™. Our Peameal Bacon quickly established itself as the premium brand across the expanded regions we serve. Our peameal bacon recipe and process originates from Radovan Milanovic's 35 year old recipe. Once introduced to all markets, it quickly became the preference of food service distributor buyers, their sales representatives, and of course, restaurant operators and their dining customers. "The Elite Meat Peameal Bacon Company™" now represents the Peameal Bacon category as the marquis of this premium product which dominates the category. It is truly "A Slice of Canadian Tradition™"!
To Date, since the company's expansion and the national exposure of the products and brands, "The Elite Meat Company™" and the newest brand, "The Elite Meat Peameal Bacon Company™" brand, have emerged as leaders and associated with "premium" in the Peameal Bacon category.
"The Elite Meat Peameal Bacon Company™" Peameal Bacon won exclusivity to be the only Peameal Bacon served in the House of Commons dining room and all Parliament Hill food service operations in Ottawa, Canada.
Our newest brand, "CravingZ™", stands behind the development and introduction of our pure pork sausage category. Fresh, dinner size sausage, in five favorite flavours, and a new and surprising sausage entry, our 1.2 oz skinless links, in the same dinner sausage traditional flavours. "CravingZ™" 1.2 oz. skinless mini sausages are now launched with selected retailers in a convenient 540g/ 16 piece, re-closable package. CravingZ™, Don't Fight it…Just Bite it! They are the little sausage with the BIG taste!
From our beginning in 1995, with 5 staff, to our current 45 staff made up of Production, Quality Assurance, Logistics, Sales, Administration and a focused, ambitious and dedicated management team, we stand behind the valued heritage of our history and early learning's, together.