GOLD SPONSOR

History (Click HERE to visit the Spitz website)

Tom and Emmy Droog, owners of Alberta Sunflower Seeds Ltd. started at the bottom, actually 12 feet below sea level in their birthplace of Holland. Tom, who had spent his boyhood working on the family farm in Holland, immigrated to Canada in 1972 to seek his fortune. During the next two years he worked in the oilfields land as a hired farm hand. Emmy immigrated from Holland in 1971 and settled in Ontario. They met, married, and purchased a farm near Bow Island, Alberta where they still live today.

The husband & wife team started their farming career growing wheat, flax, and sugar beets, but found dependence on government and marketing restrictions too confining. When Tom, who has a penchant for marketing, found out that sunflower seeds were not under the jurisdiction of government agencies, heinvestigated further. He discovered that this was a crop he could grow, process and market himself.After extensive research, Tom was satisfied he could explore many possibilities in different markets. With this entrepreneurial spirit the Droogs revolutionized the sunflower seed industry forever. Alberta Sunflower Seeds Ltd. was created in 1982 and originally started out by packaging and marketing birdseed under "Bird Preferred" label.

The smaller size seeds were used in the birdseed market, the larger size seeds were initially exported to England, Spain and Taiwan. It was through an employee's idea that sunflower seeds could be roasted and flavoured in flavors other than plain salt that an edible line of roasted sunflower seeds emerged called "SPITZ." In 1989 the company started marketing the SPITZ brand of sunflower seeds and since then have expanded to include pumpkin seeds also.

SPITZ SALES INC., which is based in Medicine Hat, Alberta, was formed in 1992 to exclusively market and distribute SPITZ seeds. The SPITZ SALES INC., distribution network covers thousands of accounts from coast to coast in Canada and is growing rapidly in the United States. All accounts are serviced by a network of truck-to-store representatives on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule.

The original line of sunflower seeds has been expanded to include SPITZ Pumpkin Seeds, Candy and Nuts under the "Any 2 for a Toonie" line, and Slim Jim Beef Jerky.

Click HERE to visit the Spitz website.