ROCKY VIEW COUNTY, AB – The Canadian Angus Association is pleased to present the inaugural CAA Partner of the Year Award to Hero Certified Burgers. Hero Certified Burgers is a quick-service restaurant franchise chain that operates in Canada, with locations concentrated in Southern Ontario and Buffalo, New York. The chain was founded in 2003 by John Lettieri.
The Canadian Angus Association introduced the Feedlot of the Year Award in 2011 to recognize feedlots that promote Angus to their customers and that feed Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed tagged cattle. In 2014, the award program was expanded to recognize the CAA Partner of the Year to acknowledge important partnerships and other sectors of the supply chain that promote Angus beef to the public and appreciate authentic Angus beef.“We chose Hero Certified Burgers to receive this inaugural award because of their commitment to using Angus beef that is both verifiable and Canadian,” says Rob Smith, CAA CEO. “Hero Certified Burgers has been a member of the Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed program since its launch in 2009. We are pleased to be able to formally and publicly celebrate their continual efforts to promote Canadian Angus beef to consumers in Canada and now in the United States with the launch of their first New York location.
“Hero Certified Burgers has proven to be a valued partner of the Canadian Angus Association,” adds Smith. “They are eager to collaborate with our Association.” Past collaborations have includedsponsorship of the Angus National Show at the Royal Winter Fair and the CAA National Convention in 2013 in Guelph, Ontario. Hero Certified Burgers founder and CEO John Lettieri was also a guest speaker at the CAA Annual National Convention in Lethbridge, Alberta in 2012.
Lettieri founded Hero Certified Burgers after finding it nearly impossible to find an Angus burger with real cheese outside of high-end restaurants and hotels. Beretta Farms is Hero Certified Burgers’exclusive Canadian Angus beef supplier. Beretta Farms sells Angus beef in Ontario, just outside the Greater Toronto Area. They have also supported the Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed program since its inception. “Partnering with Beretta Farms was a natural fit, allowing us to maintain the same attributes while increasing local production and attaching an incredible all-Canadian story to our brand,” says Lettieri.
Hero Certified Burgers is a Canadian quick-service casual restaurant that began in 2003 focusing on using food products from vendors that adhere to sustainable practice. They specialize in hamburgers, using only all-natural 100% Canadian Angus beef raised range-fed without the use of hormones or antibiotics. For more information about Hero, please visit: www.heroburgers.com
The Canadian Angus Association is Canada’s largest purebred beef breed organization. The Association represents 2,700 members across Canada for the purposes of registering and recording the pedigrees of purebred Angus cattle in the closed Herd Book and promoting the breed across Canada. The member-approved mandate is to maintain breed registry, breed purity and provide services that enhance the growth and position of the Angus breed.