The North Country Cookhouse™ Story

In 1998, Macgregors Meat & Seafood Ltd. invested in the "batch" cooked and smoked side of the meat business by acquiring a Federally Inspected plant and company in the Greater Toronto Area. This company, called Simon DeGroot Meat Products, had a rich and long-standing tradition within the Dutch communities in Ontario.

This acquisition allowed Macgregors to move forward into the processing, slow cooking and natural hardwood smoking of meat products. Our Customers were asking for value added cooked products and, through this acquisition, we began to develop new products that addressed many needs within the foodservice and private label sectors of the food industry.

Upon acquiring "DeGroot's", Duncan Macgregor Sr. made a full time, two-year commitment to this "new" business and instilled Macgregors Core Values and Our Way of doing business with a new group of people. The official name of the company changed to "North Country Smokehouse Ltd." in the year 2000 and the new name came with a story worth telling.

It is seldom in life that one has a connection with an individual like that of Master Butcher, Mike Satzow. Mike Satzow is the owner and operator of a unique and successful meat business in New Hampshire, U.S.A., called "North Country Smokehouse". Duncan Macgregor Sr. and Mike Satzow knew each other for years through an association called NAMP (The North American Meat Processors Association). While walking the streets of Chicago together where they were attending a NAMP conference, the two reminisced about days gone by in the meat business, fast changes within the industry, and what the future holds for privately owned meat businesses in North America (in between a few jokes and laughter, of course!). Upon returning from the conference in 1999, and realizing the need to reinvent "DeGroot's", the name "North Country Smokehouse" was a hard one to forget - after all, Macgregors is a Canadian privately owned family business - in the "North Country"! And yes, one of the mainstays of this newly acquired business was smoked meat. So, on a whim and a prayer, Duncan Sr. called Mike to see if he would allow the Macgregor family to use his company name, "North Country Smokehouse" and unique logo on our boxes and packaging. Mike agreed to allow the use of his name and logo here in Canada and we are so thankful for Mike's continued friendship and association in the meat industry. The "original" North Country Smokehouse in New Hampshire continues to grow and be a success under the leadership of Mike as he re-invests and creates meat products incorporating his unique "touch" while working with meat.

In 2001, Macgregors sold the North Country Smokehouse plant and moved temporarily into a leased Federally Inspected space in the City of Mississauga (very close to Toronto) where we continued to focus on batch cooked products like smoked and cooked pork back ribs, Certified Angus Beef® slow cooked beef pot roast, and naturally hardwood smoked Kaiser bacon. After spending 4 years in Mississauga, Macgregors moved our North Country Cookhouse™ staff and processes again in 2005 to our newly acquired and transformed state-of-the-art Fully Cooked Facility (Establishment #566). This plant is dedicated to cooked products only. By the way, Macgregors had unsuccessfully attempted to obtain the trademark for "North Country Smokehouse" in Canada and decided to settle on "North Country Cookhouse" as the next best alternative. It goes without saying that we are very proud of the MacPeople that make up our North Country Team and the progress we have made in "quietly becoming famous in the North Country". We look forward to you learning more about North Country Cookhouse™ products as you "surf" our site!