Now that Meuwly’s owner Peter Keith has ceased regular retail hours at his store, he has fixed his focus on mentoring up-and-coming food brands at his 5,000-square-foot stronghold at 124 Street and 107 Avenue.
“It’s kind of like how I imagine having a child who graduates, moves out of the house, goes off to college, and moves on,” Keith told Taproot about Meuwly’s retail service, which stopped in January. “Your business needs to evolve and move on, too. Sometimes you have to let go of things that you have a strong attachment to, or a lot of history with, and this was definitely one of those situations.”
Keith began making charcuterie fare in 2016 before opening the Meuwly’s storefront and commercial kitchen at 124 Street in 2018, where the shop also sold specialty foods. Keith said he has no regrets about the change, though added it’s one of the hardest decisions he’s made in the past 10 years. He’s now excited to work with growing food brands who rent space in his commercial kitchen and focus on other elements of Meuwly’s, he said.
“What I love is building brands and helping people develop strategies,” Keith said. “I love coaching and mentoring others and being able to see them thrive.”
His first tenant at the commercial kitchen was Beb’s Bagels, which originally started making Montreal-inspired bagels in 2022. Keith said the duo who run it, Luke Breiteneder and Lindon Carter, didn’t initially know if they wanted Beb’s to be a hobby or a business. Beb’s eventually sold its bagels at Meuwly’s and today offers a Saturday takeout lunch of bagels and smoked brisket in the same space. Keith is now a partner in Beb’s.
“That relationship kind of turned into peer-to-peer mentorship,” Keith said. “We are looking at the future of the company, with new product lines like a Beb’s Bagels-branded smoked salmon.”
Another tenant is Balay Coffee, which now uses the commercial kitchen and has its next Meuwly’s pop-up cafés on May 31 and June 1. In January, Balay Coffee rose from the grinds of Intent Coffee, focused on more sustainable growth than its predecessor.
Other tenants are DRTY Ice Cream, Big G Foods, Lessig Ferments, Warp Speed Bagels, CCR Food Services, and 7 Summits Snacks, which innovated on its chocolate-making process at NAIT last year. Keith said some of his other tenants might run pop-ups in the Meuwly’s space, too, but he did not want to speak on their behalf.
Keith said his tenants focus on manufacturing and processing foods for retail sales, rather than making hot food for a waiting customer, because that’s the way his kitchen was designed. He said the costs for an average commercial are significant; his cost about $1 million. Manufacturing kitchens require different amenities than do their hot-serve equivalents, he added. For example, the industrial meat smoker he bought for Meuwly’s goes for around $200,000.
“Food manufacturing also just requires more square footage,” Keith said. “To do a couple thousand square feet of industrial non-stick flooring, you’re looking at $50,000 or more. It adds up very quickly.
Luke Breiteneder from Beb’s Bagels at work inside the Meuwly’s commercial kitchen. Beb’s is one of seven brands currently using the kitchen, which offers both workspace and mentorship. (Curtis Comeau)
Another benefit of the Meuwly’s kitchen, he said, is it creates an environment to share knowledge, collaborate, and build camaraderie. He said five to 10 tenants at a time is likely the right number to keep the feeling of collectivity alive. Keith has also referred tenants to potential food clients, like an upscale hotel that he did not name.
There are other efforts underway to provide commercial space for food operators in Edmonton, Keith said. Kaladi Collective Kitchens has locations in both Edmonton and Calgary, and The Connected Kitchen Project took over the former EPIC Market food hall space on 105 Street in downtown Edmonton in the fall.
Keith said he’s in talks with more potential tenants to join the Meuwly’s commercial kitchen in the near future. As for his other work with Meuwly’s, Keith said he’s upped his focus on catering, for which he has added a mobile charcuterie cart.
Away from Meuwly’s, Keith is also the director of the eHUB Entrepreneurship Centre at the University of Alberta, where he similarly encourages young business people. One success story he recalled since starting the job around two years ago is YEG Cappuccino Service, a mobile coffee bar. Plus, Keith helps organize the High School Culinary Challenge, which he recently spoke about with Taproot.