Jody Oram, Owner of Jiggin’ Jody’s Seafood grew up in the seafood business in Newfoundland. With a family who had been in the seafood industry since the 70’s, Jody’s apple did not fall far from the tree.
Jody moved to Ontario and started a moving company, but then 4 years ago, had a ‘change of tides’ when he realized that there was a market for seafood.
“I quickly discovered there was a real niche market for seafood, cause you couldn’t get any seafood”, says Jody.
Jody had started off with a trailer, but then transitioned to a brick and mortar store front.
Jody tells Acton UP, “I had originally had a trailer, 4 years ago. That’s cause I was moving things back and forth from the island [Newfoundland], like cars and furniture”. It was then when Jody got the idea for seafood. “So I decided one time, hey, I’m going to bring a freezer and some seafood cause I’m sitting up here for 3 or 4 days waiting for a load to go back, I’m going to try this.”
Jody brought a freezer, generator, and some crab, and you could say he quickly increased his ’net’ income after he saw ‘waves’ of customers.
“People started coming from all over for this crab. I didn’t think it was no big deal, but everyone thought it was great.”
Jody kept the trailer, but found he was having issues finding parking for the 47 footer. So he then transitioned to subleasing out a store front in Hillsburgh. However the other sublease eventually moved out and Jody did not need the entire storefront, that’s when he decided on his current format, a mobile food truck.
Carrie-Anne Bennie Owner of Sweet Molly’s who is friends with Jody suggested he try selling his food in Acton. Sweet Molly’s also carries some of Jody’s food for when Jody is not around.
“What do you know, it was much busier than it was when I was in Georgetown, so I just kept going to Acton, and they’ve been really supportive, the bank there has been really supportive, and Carrie-Anne, she has been just great to me. ”
Oram tells Acton UP there is a clear difference in quality.
“I think the biggest thing is the quality. Cause a-lot of these big supermarkets, sad as it is, you take the codfish for example, Newfoundland has the richest cod fishing grounds in the world, but the fish in all these stores, none of it is from Newfoundland. Most of it is from Iceland, and here we are in Canada, in Ontario, and they’re selling seafood that’s not from Canada.”
Jiggin’ Jody carries a wide variety of seafood, from fish, crab, shellfish, and much more. Due to high demand, he is trying to set up a schedule for himself to go to certain towns, as he not only serves Acton, but also Milton, Orangeville, Fergus, and Erin.
“It’s good quality, it’s well priced, when people try it, they always come back.”
To find out more about Jiggin’ Jody or when he will be back in Acton, you can visit his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jigginjodys
Comments