Tempting
Taste Buds with Cookies
The Voortman cookie factory,
located on the north side of the busy Queen Elizabeth Way curving along
the western end of Lake Ontario between Toronto and the Niagara Peninsula,
has been a highway landmark in Burlington, Ontario, since 1975. Two Dutch-born
brothers, Harry and Bill Voortman, originally got their feet wet as bakers
in a dreary room located at the back of a Hamilton house. A two story building
in Hamilton was their next stop. Then it was a 4,600 square foot building,
on to an 18,000 square foot site and finally to their present site which
has dramatically expanded over the years to 210,000 square feet. Born,
Hellendoorn, in Overijssel, the two brothers immigrated to Canada, 1948,
with their widowed father, John, and two other siblings, settling, first,
at Picton, Ontario, but moving to Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe, 1951, to
establish their baking business. Brother Bill has since retired from the
business and Harry and the Voortman clan have forged ahead with the family
business, making 120 different cookie styles. Produced by nearly 500 employees
and distributed throughout North America, Voortman cookies are a well-known
household name with a distinct Dutch taste. In this recent view, Harry
Voortman says his cookies are “so tempting.” [Photo, courtesy Voortman
Cookies, Ltd.]
