Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited is a dairy products

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

producing butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, whipped cream and lactose free milk for retail, foodservice, industrial and export markets. Gay Lea also produces a new product called "Spreadables", which is a spreadable butter, made as a canola oil and butter blend, that tastes like butter but is spreadable directly out of the fridge. The company is based in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and owned and operated by Ontario milk producers, currently representing approximately thirty-five per cent of all Ontario dairy farms.

History

The company was founded in 1958 as United Dairy and Poultry Co-operative Limited and later renamed Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited, to reflect the brand name of its products. In 1981, Gay Lea purchased the 106-year-old Teeswater Creamery."Gay Lea lays out dairy processing expansion plans"
Agriculture Canada, Nov. 21st, 2016 In October 2016, Gay Lea acquired Canadian butter maker Stirling Creamery

Operations

- Head Office. *

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

- Main distribution centre and cultured products plant. *

- UHT pasteurized milk and cream processing plant. *

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

- Milk powder processing plant, creamery, spreadable butter and aerosol whipped topping operations. *

Teeswater, Ontario Teeswater is a community in the municipality of South Bruce, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is located 12 kilometres west of Mildmay, 16 kilometres north of Wingham on County Road 4, and 25 kilometres southeast of Ripley on ...

- Milk and cream collection plant, milk powder processing creamery and retail outlet. * Ivanhoe, Ontario - Traditional Canadian cheeses for both retail and ingredients applications. Ivanhoe also has a retail outlet. *

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

- Salerno Cheese - combined with a retail outlet and fine, traditional Italian Cheeses. *

Hagersville, Ontario Hagersville is a community in Haldimand County, Ontario in Canada. Location and airports *Hagersville is approximately southwest of Hamilton, Ontario, southwest of Caledonia, Ontario, and northeast of Port Dover, Ontario. *Hagersville's neares ...

- Organic Dairy and goat milk products - combined with the famous Dairy Bar *

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

- Head DC for all plants. *

Lindsay, Ontario Lindsay is a community of 22 367 people (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 census) on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes (Ontario), Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough, Ontario, Peterboro ...

- 10% stake on Mariposa Dairy - specializing in goat cheese.

Products

* Nordica

Cottage cheese Cottage cheese is a curdled milk product with a mild flavor and a creamy, non-homogeneous, soupy texture. It is made from skimmed milk by draining the cheese, as opposed to pressing it to make cheese curd—retaining some of the whey and keeping ...

* Nordica Single Serve

* Lacteeze

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

* Gay Lea Spreadable

Butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

Blend * Gay Lea

* Gay Lea

Sour Cream Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, wh ...

* Gay Lea

Dip * Gay Lea Real

Whipped Cream Whipped cream is liquid heavy cream that is whipped by a whisk or mixer until it is light and fluffy and holds its shape, or by the expansion of dissolved gas, forming a firm colloid. It is often sweetened, typically with white sugar, and ...

* Western Dairy products

References

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External links

Official website
Dairy products companies of Canada Agricultural cooperatives in Canada Food and drink companies established in 1958 1958 establishments in Ontario Worker cooperatives of Canada