Obituary: Cookie king Harry Voortman was ‘one of a kind’
An era has come to a close with the passing of Harry Voortman, the last of three Dutch brothers who helped put the Hamilton-Burlington area on the global bakery map.
Voortman - who died April 8 at age 88 - founded a bakery with his brother Bill in 1951 in a house at Wilson and Elgin streets in Hamilton, selling their wares door-to-door. By 2015, Burlington-based Voortman Cookies had sales exceeding $100 million, made 80 varieties of cookies and wafers and shipped to 80 countries.
The third brother, John, co-founded Oakrun Farm Bakery in Ancaster in 1978 with his wife Ellie. They started in their kitchen and it grew into a plant near Carluke and a business that did $115 million in sales by 2006.
Bill Voortman died in 2020 at 88. John Voortman died at 93 in 2021. Bill retired in 1987 and Harry bought him out.
Voortman Cookies was bought by Hostess Brands in January 2020 for $320 million and renamed Voortman Bakery. Harry sold the business in 2015 to an American private equity firm but remained a director.
We honour the legacy of Harry Voortman," Voortman Bakery said in a statement. Voortman Bakery was built on a commitment to quality and taste. Harry and the team were early pioneers in embracing better-for-you ingredients and sugar-free products. Harry was one of a kind and will be sorely missed by the entire Hostess Brands family."
In 2003, Voortman Cookies was the first of the Big 10 cookie makers in North America to cut Trans fats from its products. The company put three years of research into the move and spent $500,000 for new equipment.
Harry told The Spectator in 2005 he never dreamed his life would turn out the way it did. He never finished Grade 7.
I expected to have a small bakery," he said. I wouldn't have dreamed of selling cookies all over North America."
He credited his Christian faith and his employees for his success.
I go to meetings and listen," he said. I learn from the sales people on the road, who are closest to the people who are buying from us. They don't know how much I learn from them."
He also said he loved what he did.
So much of our lives is work, but work isn't work if you can enjoy it," he said. You can only succeed in what you enjoy. If you are only doing it for the money, don't even try."
Harry Voortman was born Nov. 29, 1933 in Hellendoorn. His father, John, owned a bakery. Harry's mother died in childbirth in 1937, leaving his father to raise four small boys. Harry baked bread and loaded up a horse-drawn wagon for deliveries.
He came to Canada in 1948. He had various jobs before he and brother Bill landed jobs at National System Baking Co. They baked their own products at night at their rented Hamilton home.
That first year the brothers made $500. I didn't tell anyone I had my own business because I didn't think it would last," Harry said.
The brothers moved to a building on Young Street in Hamilton. They moved to Burlington in 1956. One more move took place before they opened the plant on North Service Road, near Appleby Line, in 1976. That plant expanded a few times over the years.
In 2005, the company employed 600 people. It now employs 200
Harry gave to many causes. He and wife, Anne, covered costs for a 1,000-person dinner for Second World War veterans in 2010. It was held to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of the war, but was also his way of thanking Canada for dropping food supplies on Holland during the winter of 1945 when the Dutch were starving.
In 2005, Harry was the first person inducted into the Burlington Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Burlington Economic Development Corp. Hall of Fame and the Halton Business Hall of Fame.
Voortman is survived by his children Brenda, Ed, Lynn, Robert and Adrian, 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His wife Anne died on March 23 at age 85. He was predeceased by brothers John, Bill and Johann.
Daniel Nolan can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com