A chip off the old block.

The chips are down and the way Temiskaming Shores sees it, it is a good bet.

Southern Ontario-based Organic Snack Foods Inc, is expanding to Temiskaming Shores with a $1-million project.

"We are in a very specialized area of making potato chips," president Ronnie Gill says.

"We are the only certified organic potato chip company in Canada."

The business under the title Organic Chip Co. will manufacture Organic Delights potato chips as well as supply product to giant Canadian food stores.

"We are not in the cheaper end of the market. We are more aligned with health products."

It is expected the state of the art manufacturing facility, which will employ 22 people, will be located in Diamond Township where a 16,000 to 17,000 square foot facility with seven acres is located. The extra acreage will come in handy as Gill expects to expand the facility in two years and increase his staff to 35.

Project funds will be used to purchase the plant site and chip equipment that can produce a thousand finishing chips per hour, some capable of finishing 1,000 chips per hour. Gill expects operations to begin in about 10 weeks provided funding agencies such as the Temiskaming Development Fund Corp. and the South Temiskaming Community Futures Development Corp. approve financing.

Suppliers include farmers from British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick, but locals need not fret. Gill intends to have discussions with local farmers this summer to determine how much supply can be grown in the vicinity.

This is Gill's second operation. His first is based in Brampton. It is supplying major food stores across Canada and with the new operation he hopes to enter into the United States market.

"You don't get listings with the major super market unless a company is credible and meets all the health issues and requirements," he says.

"People are becoming very aware of what they are eating now."

Gill resident has been interested in the region for at least two years after he and local resident Lorne Hillcoat developed a friendship while working together on investment initiatives.

The idea of manufacturing organic potato chips came to him when he was working for a private label cracker company. The company was interested in supplying quality nutritious products to customers but found it challenging to manufacture both a regular and an organic stream out of the same facility. It requires changing lines and ingredients, which takes hours.

Gill, however, has found a way to provide a natural and organic style chips to consumers out of one facility. Without releasing any trade secrets, he explains the Temiskaming plant will be split down the middle with one side working on conventional chips and the other side producing organic chips.

By KELLY LOUISEIZE

Northern Ontario Business