Who’s Who 2024: Brent Cator, CEO, Cardinal Meats

Iinnovation, respect, determination. These are some of the words that sum up the phenomenal success of Cardinal Meats under the leadership of President and CEO Brent Cator, following in the footsteps of his father Ralph and grandfather Jack. Cardinal Meats currently produces over 250 products for its own brand and private labels, serving the restaurant and retail markets equally.

Like many of his peers, Cator began working in the family business as a teenager and then studied business.

“All I knew was that I didn’t want to be bored,” he says, “and I never was. There are so many complexities involved in producing meat products and I enjoy the close relationships with our customers as well as the leadership of our outstanding team.”

Cator learned how to innovate from Ralph (who single-handedly made the burger concept mainstream in Canada decades ago and for that and more, was inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame). About 30 years ago, Ralph was due to retire, but “he was determined to develop a prime rib product,” says Cator, “and if we didn’t do it, he was going to do it with someone else. .”

This drive led to one of Cardinal’s greatest achievements, where Cator led the creation of their now famous Safe Sous Vide cooking process, collaborating with scientists from two universities over three years. The team adapted the sous vide cooking method used by chefs into a large-scale patented industrial process that was phenomenally successful (and also led to changes in regulatory legislation). The products, which Cator says are cost-effective, consistent, food-safe and delicious, come from underutilized scraps and have been in high demand from both home cooks and restaurants since the beginning.

“We did cooked ribs, of course, but also many other items like pulled pork, chicken breast in lemon pepper sauce, half a bone-in chicken and meatloaf,” says Cator.

The art of forming burgers

The success of Safe Sous Vide has driven Cator to innovate further. He brought in biological testing for food safety and, with VP of Operations John Vatri, discovered a method that meat processing plants could use to make ground meat safer.

“Again, we advanced food safety regulations in Canada and the US,” says Cator.

Other innovations followed. Cardinal was the first to use Tender-Form filling to create burger patties. The company’s philosophy of “innovate once, innovate again” has also led to the marketing of their burgers, made using a unique natural forming technology. In total, so far, Cardinal Meats holds three patents.

Just in the last year, the Cardinal product line has grown by leaps and bounds and Cator anticipates further expansion, particularly in the Safe Sous Vide line.

“It’s as fresh as if a chef just made it,” says Cator. “Its popularity is really growing right now, with restaurants needing to save on labor and more people eating at home but wanting a special experience.”

Cator wants to explore using Safe Sous Vide in starchy dishes, but says: “I would like to spend more time researching technologies from around the world to add to the business. I like the intimacy with the clients, I like the speed of this industry and (and) I like the challenges. I want to hear what our customers want to achieve and then find out how we can make it happen. I love my team. I am very proud of our company culture. Our staff is very involved and, like me, I believe there is always a better way.”

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.