Love Local Manitoba settles in Steinbach

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This article was published 11/08/2021 (1372 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Peter Fehr is the co-founder of Love Local Manitoba and the creator of Gourmet Inspirations, and now he is setting up shop in Steinbach.

Fehr, 36, is a chef by trade with years of experience catering and cooking in restaurants, hospital kitchens, and at a fishing lodge in northern Manitoba.

“It was an amazing job and if it would’ve been closer to home and not so isolating, I probably would’ve kept working there,” said Fehr.

“My dream was to have a family one day and I’m like, ‘I need to shift careers here, to have something more sustainable.’”

As Fehr was daydreaming of a way to have a family life, a Texas rancher visiting the cold fishing lodge gave Fehr a hot idea.

“She had my creamy peppercorn sauce I made from scratch and said, ‘You need to put that in a bottle and sell that.’”

In 2011, Fehr began taking her advice. He spent the next two years perfecting recipes and building a business plan. In 2013, he registered and launched Gourmet Inspirations.

After a year of selling his gourmet products at farmers’ markets, Fehr stirred up a conversation with a neighboring vendor, Bessie Hatzitrifonos-Rasche, which lead to Love Local Manitoba in 2014.

“We’re like, ‘Wow, how do we make an event out of this and showcase all the products at a tasting event?’” Fehr recalled.

“So we started this company by having this annual event where we featured all these companies, people bought a ticket and come taste these amazing products.”

In the six years since its founding, Fehr said it became a sell-out event, bringing up to 1,000 people in attendance.

Hosted in Winnipeg, Love Local Manitoba is now recognized as one of Manitoba’s premier annual food and beverage events.

Rasche worked at Love Local Manitoba until 2017, when she moved outside of Canada, leaving Fehr leading the charge.

The business was doing so well that Fehr opened a pop-up shop in 2019 at St Vital Centre. It had to close its doors when the pandemic hit.

Being forced to take the store online and find a warehouse was a positive step for Fehr because it increased his sales by 20 percent compared to last year’s numbers.

“The opportunity was right to move the operation to Steinbach,” said Fehr. “I wanted to be close to home, and we figured there is nothing else like it in town.”

Fehr moved to Steinbach five years ago to live with his wife, Jessy Fehr, and their two kids—turning his dream of having a family and a way to provide for them into a reality.

In April, Fehr moved his operations to 110 Industrial Road, while slowly building up a Love Local Manitoba storefront and a Gourmet Inspirations production kitchen. He’s currently awaiting an occupancy permit from the city to open his doors.

Fehr expects to be operational as soon as he receives the wheelchair accessibility buttons for his doors so everyone can visit.

“The idea is to have tasting events here as well,” said Fehr. “We’re going to use this as a little test and if Steinbach ends up loving it, we’ll see how we can expand.”

Fehr hopes to one day host an event in the upcoming Southeast Event Centre and see hundreds of people tasting all the best foods and beverages that Manitoba has to offer.

Fehr runs the show with his assistant Carla Ackermann, who manages the website, social media, vendor relations, and everything in-between.

As an entrepreneur, Fehr said every business owner has good and bad days, and the waves of doubt that come are cleared every time he remembers that he is able to help people with Love Local Manitoba.

“I’m most thankful for the love and support of my wife and kids, who motivate and encourage me the most,” said Fehr.

This story was first published in the Aug. 5, 2021 edition of The Carillon. Become a subscriber today.