Von Slick’s won awards in categories for flavour and innovation
A Manitoba company won two World Dairy Expo awards for its butter product.
Middlebro, Man.’s Von Slick’s, owned by Landon Kroeker and Chef Rob Sengotta, took home first place in the Creative & Innovation Products category, and second place in the Flavored Butter category for its finishing butter in an easy-to-use tube.
In the creativity category, the product scored 85.5 out of 100. For flavour, it scored 99.6. The winning entry scored a 99.8.
Finishing butter, also known as compound butter, is butter that’s mixed with other ingredients to create new flavours.
Von Slick’s currently offers six flavours of compound butter – four savoury and two sweet.
Having the butter in a push tube is a simple solution that also keeps with traditional applications.
Chefs traditionally make the butter, freeze it in tubes and cut medallions onto dishes.
“The circular shape was iconic, and we wanted to keep that,” Kroeker told The Carillon.
The business partners started their venture in 2021 and have been collecting awards since.
They won two awards at the Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards in 2022, and an award at the 2023 Convrt Awards, a retail, innovation, design and tech competition.
"It's been stressful, amazing, everything—all the above. It makes me feel alive," Kroeker told CTV.
"Starting a business—you've got these grand ideas, and you think it's just going to be this great success, and it has been, but that doesn't mean it doesn't come without its struggles and problem solving, decision-making, and learning like crazy."
Kroeker and Sengotta also appeared on Dragons’ Den, but declined the offers presented to them.