BRAMPTON, Ont. — Ralph Cator, the first Canadian ever inducted into the North American Meat Institute Hall of Fame, passed away on April 22, 2023 at the age of 87 after a short illness.
Cator founded Cardinal Meats Specialties in 1966 after learning the butcher trade in his father’s retail butcher shop in Toronto. In 25 years at the helm, Cator turned Cardinal into one of the country’s leading suppliers of burgers, ribs and other products to restaurants, grocery stores and the wholesale market.
Cator helped make Cardinal an industry leader known for its innovations. Among his many accomplishments, Cator installed Canada’s first cryogenic freezer for burgers. In 1986, Cardinal became the first company in the world to use the Tenderform patty-forming equipment in food processing that produced a burger that became the industry standard.
In 1992, Cator was the first Canadian to ever serve as president of the North American Meat Processors (NAMP). A few years later, he was given the NAMP Angus Award, its most prestigious honour. After he retired from Cardinal, Cator went back to school and became an accredited photographer.
“My father had many expressions he used to guide his life,” says Brent Cator, Ralph’s son who is now president and CEO of Cardinal. “He used to say, ‘no one of us is as smart as all of us.’ And another I loved, ‘without a plan, any road will get you there. You just may not like where you end up.’”
