On October 28, 1952, Charlie Cheung arrived in Toronto from China in search for a better future. He was only 23 years old. His 1st job was at Fat Laundry, which paid $10 per week. During this time the owner allowed young Charlie to sleep in the back room of the laundry mat because he didn't have enough money to get a place of his own. Shortly after, he got his second job working at Nanking Restaurant located on Elizabeth Street (in a community which would become Toronto's first Chinatown). This job paid $35 per week. Charlie's duties at the restaurant included everything from cleaning floors, cooking, and delivering Chinese food. This was considered a good job for someone without an education. He stayed in their employ for 18 years.
In 1957, Betty came to Canada to join her husband Charlie. By this time, Charlie had saved enough money to buy a house at 39 Beverly St. where they both lived for the next 7 years.
About Us
During the 1960's, Charlie and Betty had both set a foundation where they started to build something substantial. Betty was working as a seamstress while Charlie continued working at Nanking Restaurant all while making connections with other restaurant owners.
In the evenings, Charlie and Betty started producing and selling cured meats from the smoke room they built in the basement of their home. This product became very popular in the Chinese Community. Charlie then made a deal with Quality Meat Packers to buy all of their pork stomachs, a product that was being disposed of because the Western Market had no use for it. These pork stomachs were considered a delicacy in the Chinese Community, and Charlie now had a monopoly.
In 1971, Charlie and Betty decided to start their own business. They purchased a small building at 383 Broadview Avenue which was the beginning of "CHARLIE'S MEAT". As the Chinese population in Toronto grew over time, so did their business.
In 2002, Charlie’s Meat partnered with No Frills to open our 1st butcher counter (Charlie’s World of Meat) inside of No Frills located at 681 Silverstar Blvd. Our objective was to serve the Chinese community in a way that a Western grocery store was unable to. We did this by offering a variety of special products and custom meat cuts used in the cooking of delicacies from China & Hong Kong.
With hard work and dedication, we now have 14 retail locations
throughout the GTA.
In business for almost 50 years, we have grown from a two-man operation on Broadview Avenue to having more than 250 employees!
Growth & Progress
Our Milestones
Half a century in business and still moving forward
Charlie's Meat moves into our Scarborough distribution building located at 61 Skagway Ave.
1991
In 2002, we opened our first-ever retail location inside Michael's No Frills located at 683 Silver Star Blvd. Scarborough.
2002
First ever Charlie's Meat owned design color catalogue released to public.
2017
We began to offer Halal meat in addition to other branded, cooked products that would be launched later that year.
2020
1971
Charlie's Meat is founded by Charlie & Betty Cheung, with a small butcher shop located at 383 Broadview Ave.
2001
We acquired our second building.
2011
By 2011, we owned 14 retail locations across the inside selected No Frills to serve all shoppers across the GTA.
2018
In the year 2018, Charlie's Meat developed and produced new, branded specialty cooked Japanese Ramen Char Shu products.
2021
Charlie’s Meat will celebrating 50 years in business!
