Our Story Began in 1957

Our passion for delicious food dates back to the mid 50’s when Cornelis van Wiltenburg immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands with his wife & four children. In 1960, Cornelis took over distributing Freybe Sausage for Vancouver Island. At that time there were very few grocery stores and delicatessens, so he sold to people at their homes. Soon after, many European delicatessens opened and there became a great demand for premium wholesale products.

Cor, (known as Neil) worked hard in the late 60’s/early 70’s to establish a recognizable and dependable wholesale company. Supermarkets quickly became interested in selling German style sausage and fine imports; this interest led to the company changing its name in 1975 to “Neil’s Wholesale”. A true milestone.

In the late 70’s Freybe expanded their business into Alberta. In February of 1979, Cor’s son, Richard van Wiltenburg ventured into sales in Edmonton and built a good following. After a few years of success, Richard moved back to Victoria to work with his father.

When Cor retired in March of 1985, Richard purchased Neil’s Wholesale and the Freybe rights for Vancouver Island.

Richard transformed Neil’s Wholesale to Lekker Food Distributors Ltd. in December of 1986. His good friend, Mike Ready joined him in 1987 and together they introduced premium cheeses and high-end foods into the marketplace.

Rob McCowan joined Lekker in 1996 to help expand the business. Together, they successfully introduced innovative products to customers.

By 2005 Rob developed a successful sales territory in Vancouver, BC. The demand for fine foods grew and quickly and Lekker expanded service to the surrounding areas on the mainland.

Due to increased demand and escalating sales, Lekker outgrew their warehouse and office space. In 2006, Richard purchased a new 12,000 square foot facility in beautiful Victoria, BC which is now known as Lekker’s Headquarters. In 2013 Lekker opened a distribution facility in Richmond, British Columbia to keep up with the growing demand in Vancouver and the lower mainland areas.

  • Lekker Foods Distribution

In 2014, Lekker expanded their product offerings by taking over Richardson Foods Group (based out of Nanaimo). Lekker also increased product listings into Alberta. As sales escalated, Lekker opened a new sales office in Nanaimo. The Vancouver sales team rapidly grew to keep up with demand.

A marketing team was created to offer assistance to our manufacturers and sales force. Vancouver and lower mainland business continued to boom, and in 2017 Lekker positioned a company sales representative in Kelowna to focus on business opportunities in the Okanagan region of British Columbia.

In 2018 Lekker hired a company representative in Prince George, British Columbia and in Calgary, Alberta (another milestone).

Lekker also ventured into social media with Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter. In 2019 they launched a full brand refresh, including a new company logo and website.