Lou Bruni is a well-known name and face in Sault Ste. Marie.
The owner of Bruni's Fine Foods has been serving customers here for nearly 50 years.
Bruni's Fine Foods is a standout example of a locally owned source for beef, pork, chicken, veal and seafood.
“We sell everything in meat and cheese,” owner Lou Bruni told SooToday.
That makes a long list.
“We make our own kielbasa, our own bacon, our own ham, pepperettes, pepperoni, a multitude of sausages fresh and frozen, Italian sausage, bratwurst, andouille, chorizo, chicken sausage with red pepper and Asiago cheese. We make our own meat balls, our own meat sauce, meat loaf.
"Anything that we can make, we'll make.”
Take bacon for example.
“We'll trim the meat to the degree that we want. We'll soak it with our own brine. We'll let it sit overnight and then the following day it’ll be smoked with natural smoke. Then it’s allowed to cool again overnight and then the third day we start slicing and package it up for retail. It's not an overnight thing, but we can produce our own bacon in three or four days,” Bruni said.
Bruni makes haggis for Scottish customers for Robbie Burns Day every January and says it's an example of what a small, locally owned store will do for people.
"The chain stores certainly can't fill that void. If a business is locally owned, I find they'll go the extra mile for you. That's not to say that the people working in the bigger stores won't go the extra mile. They just don't have the latitude that we would have to create something for you.”
While some of Bruni’s goods are locally sourced, most of them are provincially sourced from suppliers such as Highland Packers of Stoney Creek, Conestoga Meats of Breslau (near Waterloo) and Maple Lodge Farms headquartered in Brampton.
“We should buy Canadian. There's plenty of Canadian product. We don't have to buy anything else,” Bruni said.
Born in Italy, Bruni settled in the Sault in 1956 and is now in his 46th year of running his own food business.
He started working in the food industry at Steelton Meat and Fish - now home to Paesano Foods - when he was 14.
“I’ve spent my entire career in the meat business,” Bruni said.
He then worked at Dominion in Churchill Plaza (now Metro) beginning at the age of 20.
It was there that he learned how to be a professional butcher.
“It was on the job training at that time,” Bruni said.
After five years at Dominion, he worked at a farmers’ market on Great Northern Road before opening the Butcher’s Block on Second Line West in 1979.
He moved across the street 10 years later and rebranded the business as Bruni’s Butcher’s Block. After spending nearly 30 years on Second Line West, Bruni sold the shop in 2007 and opened up Bruni’s Fine Foods in 2008 on Wellington Street West, where he’s been ever since.
“We've had some great days,” Bruni said.
“We've gone through a lot of layoffs at the steel plant which affected us. At one time there were thousands people working there, all carrying a lunch pail. Now there's barely 3,000 people working there and there aren’t as many lunches going through there.”
Bruni, however, is still busy with many loyal customers.
“It's been steady. We're still going after 46 years,” he said.
Bruni’s Fine Foods supplies food for the Goulais River Country Store, McClelland's Hardware & Feed in Desbarats, Neal’s Country Farm & Market on Second Line West, The Breakfast Pig and The Grand Gardens.
Bruni's shop is open Tuesday through Friday.
“Chances are you'll find me here most of the day Monday and sometimes on Saturday morning. At one time we were open six days a week but there is a labour shortage,” Bruni said.
He still enjoys the business however.
“I love it. I love the interaction with the customers. A lot of them are friends,” Bruni said.
“The love of creating things is first and foremost. The ability to produce something that someone's going to enjoy is very fulfilling. The making of products that nobody else makes is very fulfilling. What I do is an art. I enjoy it.”
Located at 328 Wellington St. W., Bruni’s Fine Foods has been up for sale for a year and a half.
“It's not an easy job. It's labour intensive. You want to do it right. Somebody's got to be coming out of a culinary program. In North Bay, there's a butcher's program but we haven't seen any applicants from there yet. But to be in this business would be a nice opportunity for a young person to have their own business and interact with customers and become lifetime friends with them like I have.”
Bruni is 73 and a married father of one.
Once the business finds a buyer, what does he plan to do in retirement?
“Well, I’ll keep busy. I like to golf and I'm a half decent handy man of sorts, so there won't be any dull moments. You have to stay busy,” Bruni said.
