Ontario’s Gay Lea Foods has announced $140 million in projects to be spent over four years to dramatically increase dairy ingredient processing in the province. The announcement last week in Teeswater, Ont., is the result of several years of work to bring revitalized ingredients processing to the province and to stem the flow of milk […] Read more
Dairy ingredients strategy starts to drive investment
Gay Lea lays out dairy processing expansion plans
A dairy farmer co-op on an aggressive growth track has mapped out its next four years’ worth of expansions and upgrades, starting with a storied processing plant in southwestern Ontario. Gay Lea Foods Co-operative on Wednesday announced a budget of $140 million over four years to set up what it describes as an “innovative nutrition […] Read more
Tighter border programs eyed for poultry, dairy imports
Federal programs meant to give importers tariff breaks on certain imports and products destined for re-export are up for tweaks to better cover Canada’s supply-managed poultry and dairy sectors. The federal government said Friday it plans to launch consultations with “industry stakeholders” over potential changes to its Duties Relief Program (DRP) and Import for Re-Export […] Read more
Got milk? Not so much these days
Sales of chocolate milk, yogurt, and cream up, but milk consumption way down
Reading Time: 2 minutes While fluid milk sales are decreasing in Canada, consumption of cream, flavoured milk, cheese and yogurt is on the rise. “According to Statistics Canada, per capita consumption of fluid milk decreased 21.5 per cent from 1996 to 2015,” said provincial consumer market analyst Jeewani Fernando. “However, flavoured milk and cream consumption has increased significantly during […] Read more
China busts gang selling expired dairy products
Shanghai/Wellington | Reuters — Chinese police have arrested 19 people for repackaging and selling expired dairy products originally from New Zealand giant Fonterra Co-Operative Group, a Shanghai regulator said on Monday, the latest food scare to hit the country. The bust, which initially took place in March, uncovered the gang who had cut 276 tons […] Read more
Gay Lea to buy central Ontario butter maker
A U.S.-owned artisanal butter processor in central Ontario is set to become an arm of Ontario dairy co-operative Gay Lea Foods. Michigan-based butter producer Butterball Farms has agreed to sell Stirling Creamery, based at Stirling, Ont., north of Belleville, to Gay Lea effective Nov. 1. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though Gay Lea […] Read more
Dairy firms plan joint processing venture in Winnipeg
Manitoba dairy producers are expected to get a new outlet for their raw milk from a new joint venture to process butter and dairy ingredients in Winnipeg. Mississauga-based dairy co-operative Gay Lea Foods and ingredient processor Vitalus Nutrition of Abbotsford, B.C. on Monday announced a joint venture to be based at an unnamed “existing food […] Read more
EU anti-globalization politician allowed to stay in Canada
Ottawa | Reuters — European Parliament member and anti-globalization activist Jose Bove will be allowed to stay in Canada after earlier being told to leave the country, according to organizers of an event where he had been scheduled to speak. The Council of Canadians, a social justice non-profit, said on Wednesday that a decision to […] Read more
NAFTA negotiators see gains for Canada if pact reopened
Reuters — Canada, fearful of talk by the U.S. presidential candidates to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement, could use the opportunity to push for a better deal on worker mobility, dispute resolutions and other issues, Canadian negotiators of the original pact said. Republican Donald Trump calls NAFTA the worst trade deal signed by […] Read more
New Zealand dairy industry worries over Canada pricing plan
Wellington/Winnipeg | Reuters — New Zealand is closely watching changes in how Canada prices dairy products, New Zealand’s trade ministry said on Friday, as industry groups in several countries complain of unfair Canadian competition. Canada’s dairy farmers and processors, which include Saputo and Parmalat Canada, struck a pricing agreement in July that industry groups in […] Read more