Mayor Sandra Snow presented the Mayor’s Corporate Award to company representatives John Pettet and Jeff Sarsfield on May 16.
“It’s one of the best parts of my job, being out and about and honouring the folks who work so hard to make our community a great place to live,” Snow said.
The award is presented annually to a company or enterprise in Kentville that demonstrates leadership in the business community while supporting economic development, providing meaningful employment and an exceptional product or service.
“To the owners and managers here at Apple Valley Foods, thank you for making Kentville part of your operations,” Snow said. “To the folks who make up the production team, thank you for being part of the team and ensuring that Apple Valley Foods is the best pie maker in North America and an excellent corporate citizen.”
Located in the Kentville Business Park, Apple Valley’s 43,000 square foot plant includes ovens and a warehouse facility for complete baked goods production. The family owned and operated company is also the largest grower of Spy apples in Atlantic Canada with Sarsfield Orchard’s 220 acres of farmland.
Leonard Sarsfield started making pies with wife Fran in the kitchen of their apple farm in 1980. Their success expanded rapidly, growing into a $16,000,000 pie company – the largest pie manufacturer in Canada.
Apple Valley Foods produces a variety of pies including unbaked, baked, no sugar added unbaked and baked, thaw and serve and seasonal pies. They offer more than 20 different flavours and a variety of sizes. In 2012, the company was awarded 16 first-place prizes at the American Pie Council National Pie Championships.
