OTTAWA
Inuit in Ottawa are tired of Western staples and crave that Nunavut specialty arctic char.
Joe Hess, general manager at Iqaluit Enterprises, is opening a Nunavut food store in Ottawa with hopes that it will prosper. He says the Inuit demand for arctic char is high. - NNSL file photo |
Or at least that's why Joe Hess, general manager at Iqaluit Enterprises, which runs the country food store in Iqaluit is opening a Nunavut food market in the nation's capital.
"I hope everything works out and the Inuit people don't have to eat hotdogs and hamburgers for a while," said Hess, laughing.
He helps run a completely Inuit-owned company that sells pretty much all the Arctic char it can get.
"I'm trying to provide a service for the Inuit down in Ottawa so they don't have to call me and I have to package it and send it out individually all the time," he said.
"I'm just trying to get them an outlet."
Hess has a lot of Inuit customers passing through Iqaluit who buy Arctic char in bulk
to take with them.
"It's a good little operation for a native person," he said.
The Ottawa store will start by selling smoked and filleted arctic char and Hess will be looking into further items to sell.
Arctic char, whether up North or down south, is a specialty item limited by seasonal supply.
"You can't get it all the time," said Hess.
"Whenever it's available, I'll be able to sell it."
Businesses need good planning, he said.
"If you want to do business, it depends how hard you work at it, how many people you've got fishing for you or how much of a supply you can get your hands on."
Hess is a humble guy.
"It may be a success story, but I'm not trying to be business man of the year," he laughed.
"I just want to make a living and provide a service to the Inuit that they can't get down there."
The store will be called Nunavut Country Food.
Hess aims for a March opening.
