Belle River businessman hopes to take local company national with Dragon-sized deal

Ameen Fadel, 24, co-owner of Cedar Valley Selections, Inc., seen on Nov. 2, 2023, after his TV appearance on Dragon's Den.

A mother-son duo out of Lakeshore is preparing to cut a new partner into their pita chip business: international business icon Arlene Dickinson.

Ameen Fadel, 24, and mom Surria took their company, Cedar Valley Selections, Inc, up the 401 for a taping of CBC’s Dragon’s Den last spring — sitting on that secret until the episode aired Thursday night.

At the end of their appearance on the show, they walked away with a deal.

“We were out there for 45 minutes but it flew by quick,” Fadel told CTV News Windsor.

“Arlene [Dickinson] started off the offers. We went in for $250,000 for 5 per cent and she started with $1,000,000 for 20 per cent,” he said.

Fadel said he and his mom were stunned to get an offer for the valuation they went in with – even if Dickinson wanted a larger stake than they initially offered up.

“My mom couldn’t keep her cool at all,” he recalled. “I was like, play it cool we need some kind of poker face.”

The deal still needs to be closed, but Fadel said they already had plans to double the size of their production space in the New Year, while staying close to home.

“We want to keep everything local here in Windsor-Essex because this is where it all started and the community has been really involved in growing the business,” said Fadel.

For Fadel, it all started as a 16-year-old Belle River High School student.

He remembers hearing an announcement at school about a government program offering young entrepreneur $3,000 to start their own business.

He said brainstorming with his mom on the idea led to them selling her fattoush salad dressing, a Lebanese staple.

They were eventually selling the dressing at farmers markets offering samples with homemade pita chips, when Fadel said customers started to ask to buy those chips, too.

Now, they offer four flavours of pita chips, available in grocery stores across Windsor-Essex and online.

“I’m proud,” said Fadel. “I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of my mom, proud of our brand and especially of our staff.”

Cedar Valley employs 14 people locally. All of whom took Thursday off for a bowling party to celebrate the Dragon’s Den appearance.

They then gathered for a watch party back where it all started, at Belle River High.

“I’m super excited to experience it with all the day-one people who have been there and that helped fuel the brand and grow the brand,” Fadel said.

Looking forward to the future, Fadel said he hopes bringing Dickinson on board can help expand the Cedar Valley brand across Canada and into the United States.