Walking through Ozery Pita Break bakery in North York, with its large production lines and 150-odd employees, it's hard to believe that this operation was born out of a 700 Sq ft downtown Toronto sandwich shop. Back then the staff consisted of father and son owners Al and Alon Ozery, and a little later on Alon's wife.  It's also hard to believe that with 40,000 sq. ft. filled mostly with hard-working machinery, the product can still boast that it's all natural with no preservatives. On this point Alon, who now shares management responsibilities with his brother Guy, is adamant. After all, it was the foundation of the original business plan, a guiding principle upon which Ozery has built its reputation. "Our equipment is custom-made so our pita line is slower to accommodate quality ingredients. For instance, we use a lot of sour dough, and that just takes time. We've learned that if you let the product rest and don't rush things the quality is better. We don't use chemicals to expedite the whole process. We just don't believe in them." 

Ozery's popular OneBun, a low calorie sandwich bun, as well as their pitas, mini-pitas and lavash crackers, are now widely available at health food stores and supermarkets across Canada and, just recently in the United States, at Whole Foods.  Ozery is currently in partnership with Compass Group Canada, a food service company that caters to schools, to implement healthy eating in over 300 Ontario elementary and secondary schools. It's part of their plan to grow their business while continuing to make their mark in the healthy food market. 

Ozery Pita Break will contribute its OneBun and signature Breakfast pitas, which meet the Ontario government's new nutrition plan commencing in September 2011, to provide products with whole grain ingredients that contain more than 2 grams of fiber and less than 240 mg of sodium per serving.

"We're a perfect choice for Ontario's new school nutrition guidelines, which begin this year, because whole wheat is our first ingredient. Since we're starting early, we'll have to compete with the more typical foods already being offered in schools, foods high in fat, sugar and salt. We'll see how it goes," says Alon. Again, he's quick to add, "we've always used healthy, whole grain products using the freshest ingredients. We buy locally as much as possible." Many of the products are organic and all are Kosher.

As a student enrolled in Ryerson's 4-year hospitality course Alon Ozery had an idea to open a small sandwich shop using whole grain, freshly baked pitas as its basis for healthy sandwiches.  "My father is Israeli, of Yemenite descent and growing up we always made pitas. I loved the breads, the smell, I loved baking them; there was a connection." He wrote up a business proposal, presented it at Ryerson and it was well received. So he brought it to his father, who had no prior food business experience, but with a bank loan and a positive outlook, they designed a menu and opened up a small shop at Yonge and Wellesley. "It was important to target a general Canadian clientele, not necessarily ethnic," says Alon. "It took a few months but pretty soon we had lineups" From there they began selling their products to the health food shops in the downtown core such as the Big Carrot, Pusatari's, Noah's Natural Foods,  and other independents. The product did so well they began see potential in wholesaling.  A couple of years later they opened a 4,000 sq ft location in North York."We knew nothing about wholesale bakeries," says Alon. "We bought some used equipment and eventually found a way to customize it for our product." They began selling to small supermarket chains like Longo's and Highland Farms, and eventually got into the big players like Loblaws, Sobey's and Metro.

All along they were developing new products and came up with their original breakfast pita, containing various fruit and grains like flax, muesli, apples, raisins, cranberries. It was new to the market at the time -- approximately ten years ago.  "We grew because of demand. It's really been interesting."

Many of Ozery's employees have been with the company since the early days, working their way up the ranks from counter person to distribution manager; from mixer to product developer; from driver to production manager.  "We have a low turnover, we appreciate the people who work for us; they stay with us."  That sentiment seems to be captured in one of their many mottos: Happy People Baking.

Alon, who has 3 children, is more than happy to be involved with Compass and the school program, which includes developing new kid-friendly recipes and menu ideas.  "My kids eat healthy at home but it's a challenge for any parent when kids go to school, parties and events. Healthy eating has to be reinforced." He adds, "I take my hat off to Compass, they're starting this program earlier than they have to."  His brother Guy adds, "It's really the basis of who we are."

So what's in the future for the Ozery brothers and their little bakery that grew?  "I don't want to say too much, but we're moving forward, in partnership with Compass, with other venues across the country," says Alon. "Working with this kind of initiative is right up our alley."

He adds, "Our strongest suit, besides health, is innovation." That can only bode well for an already thriving business with humble beginnings and a noble mandate of making nutrition as delicious as possible.

Carla Lucchetta is a Toronto-based writer, TV producer and essayist for TVO The Agenda with Steve Paikin. She keeps a blog at www.herkind.com.