John Metz Schneider

John Metz (J.M.) Schneider (17 February 1859 in Kitchener, Ontario – 23 February 1942 in Kitchener) was a Canadian businessman and founder of Schneider Foods, now a division of Maple Leaf Foods.

He founded Schneiders in 1886 after an accident at the button factory where he was working left him unemployed. He, his wife and his mother began making sausages which they sold door to door. The company grew and survived the Great Depression, becoming one of the largest meat producers in Canada. It specialized in wieners, luncheon meat, sausage and other forms of specialty and delicatessen meats, and was the first company in Canada to introduce vacuum packaging.

Although Schneiders Foods was acquired by rival Maple Leaf Foods in 2003, the Schneiders name and logo were retained.