The Main Ingredient Under New Ownership After 43 Years Of Serving Peterborough

The Main Ingredient torch has been passed on as longtime owners Ken and Deb Fraser have sold the Peterborough business to couple Mike and Whitney Hall announced in a Facebook post on Friday.

From left to right: Mike Hall, Deb Fraser, Ken Fraser, Whitney Hall and Summer Hall. The Main Ingredient first opened at 326 Charlotte St. and had a now-closed second location called Main Ingredient Too on 111 Hunter St. E. Photo courtesy of The Main Ingredient.

Located at 326 Charlotte St., The Main Ingredient has been selling supplements, ingredients, dried fruits and more since 1979.

The Fraser’s opened the environmentally-conscious, buy-what-you-need, bulk health food store and promoted the use of reusable containers to reduce excess waste. After 43 years they have decided to retire as the owners of The Main Ingredient.

“We will always be thankful for every customer who chose to shop local and step through our doors. We’ve always known that we have the BEST customers and Peterborough is the best place to do business,” wrote Fraser. “There comes a time, however, when one must decide to pass on the baton. Deb and I are retiring. We have a lovely couple that have chosen to take on that baton.”

The Halls are musicians and their band Paper Shakers performed at Peterborough Musicfest in 2019.

Mike began working at The Main Ingredient a year and a half ago. He quickly stepped into a managerial role, as Whitney helped the brand with social media and marketing.

In August 2021, he was approached by Ken to take over the store.

“There were so many qualities I think that Ken saw of himself in Mike, and knowing that we are having our own little family I think he sees him and Deb,” said Whitney.

The new owners are used to being business partners in the music industry but say buying and running The Main Ingredient has been a learning curve.

“We’re used to promoting singles and asking the press to come to a rock show, and now we’re like ‘do you need a cup of flour?’” laughed Mike.

These new owners say they are excited to explore what they can bring to the business and hope to expand the catalogue of kitchenware and kitchen decor items they sell.

“It’s been really fun for me to get to dream a little bit for the both of us, like where we want this to go and how we can best serve our community,” said Whitney. “We would love to turn The Main Ingredient into a foodie community. Somewhere where people love to cook and love to eat, where they can come to find new ingredients and products.”

“We want to create a very fun culture for students, the elderly, everybody. A place to come eat food, talk about food and have a good time,” said Mike.

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