The Gallant family has sold groceries in Letellier, Manitoba for three generations starting in 1923. The 4,000 square-foot full-service Gallant's Family Foods, an hour south of Winnipeg on Highway 75, serves a geographic are of about 2,000 people. It includes small communities such as Dominion City, Emerson, St. Joseph, and The Roseau River Reserve. Gallant's has gross sales of about $1 million annually.

    Rick Gallant and his brother Bob, a butcher, took over the store from their father who took over from his father so they are the third generation of Gallants to run the store. Rick's wife Gloria is also involved managing the store's new food processing acquisition, Del's Specialty Meats.

    In 1997, Wanting to expand their business, Gallant bought Del's from a private owner in St. Boniface and moved the small but established processor to Letellier.

    Rick says, "The owner wanted to retire and we had a few family product ideas of our own we wanted to try, so we financed the deal ourselves and took the chance of making a go of it."

    Del's was moved to a new building adjacent to the store. New equipment was purchased and the plant now turns out a variety of products for retail stores including French Canadian meat pie, known as 'tortière', an assortment of pates, Del's Homestyle frozen pizzas, sugar pie, head cheese and blood sausage. Among their clients are IGA and Safeway.

    Leveraging their grocery business contacts, Del's products are piggybacked on their milk suppliers' trucks a practice known as 'cross docking' because it literally goes direct from truck to truck for delivery.