Dave Hygaard
For Sherwood Park, Alberta sandwich maker Dave Hygaard, innovation came in the form of a
plastic bottle.
For over 20 years, Hygaard Fine Foods made its reputation on pre-packaged submarine
sandwiches, pizzas, ham and cheese sandwiches and garlic ribs whose shelf-life had been extended by injecting
carbon dioxide gas into the sealed package. At its peak, the company was shipping 60,000 sandwiches per day
to hotels and convenience stores throughout North America.
In 1996, Hygaard moved to marketing spring water sourced from Valemont, British Columbia,
capitalizing on the up-and-coming trend toward bottled "designer" water. He established a plant in Sherwood
Park and was soon shipping 35,000 bottles of water per week to markets throughout Canada, the United States
and Asia.
To make Arctic Chiller water stand out, Hygaard designed a distinctively colourful plastic
bottle that eventually became enough of a trademark that other companies fought over the rights to manufacture
the design for their waters. By 2000, he was about to lose most of the North American rights to use the
bottle of his invention.
Three companies were in the running to win the licence to market a spring water using
Hygaards bottle and the Star Trek label.
"Whoever wins the fight will take my bottle," he told the Edmonton Journal. He was
scarcely singing the blues, however. The monthly royalties were expected to be in the $30,000 range.
Today, Hygaard describes himself as "semi-retired," but is still active enough that he
keeps office hours and answers his own phone.
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