William Neilson Dairy Limited is a Canadian dairy company owned by

Saputo Inc. Saputo Inc. is a Canadian dairy company based in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1954 by the Saputo family. It produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream prod ...

The company is based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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 ...

. In the United States, its products are sold under the name Neilson. Its products are sold at

Loblaws Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, C ...

Real Canadian Superstore Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of supermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to Superstore, or, less commonly, RCSS. Originating in Western Canada in the late 1970s/early 1980s, the b ...

, Giant Tiger, and

Fortinos Fortinos is a Canadian supermarket chain that was founded in Hamilton, Ontario. It operates 23 stores across the western Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited. History In 1961, Italian immigrant steelwork ...

, among others.

History

The company was founded by William Neilson (1844–1915) in 1893 as one of many independent dairy producers in Canada. Neilsons began as a milk retailer, and then switched to cream and ice cream products. Neilson Dairy became William Neilson Limited in 1907. After the mid-20th century, many smaller companies were taken over by larger corporations. William Neilson was sold to

George Weston Limited George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of Weston Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary, and Loblaw Companie ...

in 1947. Neilson Dairy became part of the Saputo corporate group after George Weston Limited sold the dairy unit in 2008.

Products

A list of brands and products sold by Neilson Dairy past and present: * Neilson dairy products including,

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 ...

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 ...

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

and instant

pudding Pudding is a type of food. It can be either a dessert or a savoury (salty or spicy) dish served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, ins ...

s. *

Häagen-Dazs Häagen-Dazs ( , ) is an American ice cream brand, established by Reuben and Rose Mattus in The Bronx, New York, in 1960. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, Ne ...

licence – acquired in 1981, sold to

Ault Foods Ault Foods Limited was a Toronto-based dairy processor and Canada's largest dairy company acquiring other dairy companies across Canada. The company was established around 1926. Ault sold off parts of their business in the mid-1990s; milk division ( ...

in 1990. * Cadbury Confectionery Company Canadian operations – acquired in 1987, sold all confectionery and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

products back to British Cadbury in 1996. Neilson licenses

Caramilk Caramilk is the name of two distinct candy bar products made by Cadbury. Both were introduced in 1968. The Canadian version is a milk candy bar filled with caramel. The Australian version (also available in New Zealand, the UK and Ireland) is a ca ...

and

Crispy Crunch Crispy Crunch is a hard chocolate bar with a crispy peanut butter flake inside that is made by Cadbury in Canada. Harold Oswin, an employee of Neilson Dairy, William Neilson, developed "Crispy Crunch" in 1930. History Harold Oswin was a candy ...

-flavoured chocolate milk. *

Chocolate bar A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily brea ...

s and confectionery – Jersey Milk, Mr. Big, Malted Milk, Sweet Marie and Crispy Crunch (for which the recipe was changed), Pep, Will-O-Pak sold to British Cadbury in 1996. Jersey Milk and Will-O-Paks continue to have the Neilson brand name on them; however, they are now manufactured by Mondelez Canada. * Bite-size chocolates – Neilson sells several varieties of chocolate snacks, including Golden Buds, small milk chocolates similar to

Hershey's Kisses Hershey's Kisses is a brand of chocolate first produced by the Hershey Company in 1907. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive conical shape, sometimes described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses chocolates are wrapped i ...

; Slowpokes, similar to

Turtles Turtles are an order (biology), order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) an ...

; and Willocrisp, flaky peanut wafers dipped in chocolate, similar to Crispy Crunch.

Operations

Neilson dairy operations past and present: *

Beachville, Ontario South-West Oxford is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within Oxford County. The township had a population of 7,664 in the 2016 Canadian census. A predominantly rural municipality, South-West Oxford was formed in 1975 throug ...

– former cheese operations (closed) *

Georgetown, Ontario Georgetown is a large unincorporated community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Halton. The town includes several small villages or settlements such as Norval, Limehouse, Stewarttown and Glen William ...

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 ...

, Ontario – formerly Royal Dairy (closed) *

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario – formerly Clark Dairy *

, Ontario – formerly Donlands Dairy and Neilson-Cadbury chocolate factory – sold *

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

References

External links

* {{Saputo Companies based in Toronto Food and drink companies established in 1893 Canadian chocolate companies Dairy products companies of Canada 1893 establishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1893