BRANTFORD, Ont. –  To thank its employees, customers, and suppliers, Trison Tarps once again hosted its annual customer appreciation barbecue.

And just like the Trison tag line, Where Customer Service Excels, president Paul Vandenberg makes sure that he delivers when it comes to service, even when it comes to an event like this.

Because a Trison Tarps barbecue isn’t your average trucking industry barbecue where hot dogs and hamburgers are served up. Rather, Vandenberg uses his own custom-built smoker to roast a whole pig for his guests.

In fact, Vandenberg was at the facility at 2:45 a.m. to make sure the 250-lb pig was on the smoker in time to be served up to guests for the event that began at 11 a.m.

The event, now in its fourth year, started in 2014 when Trison moved into the new 48,000 sq-ft facility in Brantford. After that, Vandenberg thought he’d do another pig roast to celebrate 10 years in business and since then, he said hosting the event has been an excuse to get customers, employees and suppliers all together and show them how valued they really are.

“It showed a lot of interest when we first started it when we moved into the building and so now we’re going with it,” Vandenberg said whilst shredding the pork for his guests at the event on May 31. “I think it’s important to host these kinds of events because customers are what run our business. Without customers we may as well close our doors. And we do invite suppliers as well, because without them, Trison Tarps wouldn’t be the same. We have quite a number of suppliers around and they usually make the effort to come from all over North America. We promote it for a month and a half and people talk about it afterwards for a really long time.”

It’s truly a day everyone looks forward to, he added.

“My wife does a nice job with the presentation inside, too. She’s a very big support for me,” he said adding that she does most of the baking for the annual event. “I have a lot of good people around me. It makes it enjoyable to do this sort of event. I look forward to meeting people who I would normally just speak to on the phone. So, there’s a lot of customer interaction going on, that would never happen without an event like this.”

The employees enjoy the event just as much as he does, Vandenberg assured.

“Because we give them the opportunity to show customers and suppliers what they’re doing in the shop as well. We offer tours of the facility during the barbecue, so they can explain what they’re doing in the company. Plus it helps us keep this place looking sharp once a year. We have a beautiful facility and we want to let people know that.”

As far as business goes, Vandenberg says it’s going well.

“Business is good,” he said.  “I think the industry is doing very well and we are too. We are managing to keep up with supply and demand but our business continues to grow and we look forward to new customers and maintaining old customers. That’s always a challenge because we have competitors that always try to do better and it keeps us on our toes.”

If you missed the event this year, not to worry, assured Vandenberg, the event, at least for the near future, will be an annual one.

“As long as it continues to be a success, we want to continue it each and every year,” he said.

Trison Tarps is a family business and manufactures its own tarps on-site at its Brantford facility.