HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-12-08, Page 17Gay Lea presents
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
A proposal to be considered at
the annual meeting of Gay Lea
Foods Co-operative in January
would see members divided into
four zones across Ontario instead of
the two current zones.
Under the restructuring
recommended by the delegates
advisory committee, Huron and
Perth Counties, currently part of
zone one which covers most of the
province except the Grey-Bruce
area, would become part of the new
zone one which will also include
Middlesex, Lambton, Essex, Kent
and Elgin Counties.
It would mean, said Abe Versteeg,
reporting to the zone one meeting in
Brussels, Monday, that in future
years the zone meeting will not be
held in Brussels but somewhere
more central within the new zone.
Versteeg said part of the purpose
for the change was to more evenly
divide the membership among
zones. Currently zone one has 2,914
members including 1,728 milk
producing members while zone two
only 1,874 members, 892 of them
producing milk.
In the restructuring, a new zone
two would be created, centred on
Waterloo, Wellington and Oxford
Counties. Part of the rationale for
the changes is to encourage more
members to join Gay Lea and with
1165 milk producers in this area.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2005. PAGE 17.
proposal to restructure
there’s the potential for a substantial
membership growth.
The old zone two becomes zone
three, covering Bruce, Grey,
Simcoe, York, Durham and
Kawartha Lakes. Just as the
northern Huron-Perth area will no
longer be the centre for Gay Lea
activities in zone one. Grey and
Bruce will likely no longer host the
annual zone meeting for this
region.
This zone will also lose several
delegates because of the loss of
members in the area.
Lying behind the restructuring is
the desire to make greater inroads
among producers in eastern Ontario
and a new zone four will cover
eastern and northern Ontario. Most
members in that region are
currently in the Kemptville and
Ottawa area.
Delegates to the annual meeting
will also consider a proposal that
would mean that only farmer
producers can be voting members in
future.
The move, explained John
Ellison, a director from Listowel, is
designed to keep producers in
control of the co-op. Non-producer
members, would become preferred
shareholders who would have a
guaranteed return on their
investment but wouldn’t have
voting privileges.
One audience member argued this
broke with the co-op principle of
one member-one vote, urging the
board to poll investor-members to
see how they will regard their future
investments in the co-op if the
proposal goes through.
Producers would also be required
to boost their holdings to three
shares for every 1,000 litres of
production to qualify as members.
If they do not have this level of
investment, their patronage shares
will be invested in shares until the
minimum limit was reached.
In elections, Stuart Steckle,
currently Gay Lea board chair, was
returned by acclamation as director
for the zone one. Acclaimed as
delegates were: Bill Reid, Gerald
Johnson, Abe Versteeg, Ignaz Good,
Janet Boot, Glen Herlick, Dave
Hawthorn and Jack Kuipers.
Gay Lea sales stall but profits at record level
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
Sales for Gay Lea Foods Co
operative stalled in 2005 with some
key products losing market share,
yet profits were at a record level.
Andrew McGillvray, president
and chief executive officer of the co
op, told members at the zone one
annual meeting in Brussels,
Monday, that sales for the year were
New calendar features faces offarming
The faces of Ontario’s livestock
and poultry farmers are featured in a
new calendar recently published by
the Ontario Farm Animal Council
(OFAC).
John Maaskant, a chicken farmer
and OFAC’s chairman, described the
participants as being “real farmers
with real heart. These are the people
who work hard, 365 days each year,
to put food on our tables.”
Maaskant also said he hopes the
calendar will help to dispel a lot of
myths about who farmers are. “You
won’t find checked shirts and rubber
boots in this publication,” he
chuckled.
The classic black and white
calendar builds upon Ontario Pork’s
successful calendar initiative from
the years 2002 to 2005.
It graciously turned the project
over to OFAC who expanded it to
May peace and harmony
reign during this most
noteworthy season.
We're always delighted
to hear from you.
Merry Christmas!
326 Josephine St.
Wingham
70 Court House Square
Goderich
$330 million, about the same as last
year though less was actually sold
this year than last. Part of the reason
was that Gay Lea processed seven
percent less milk than in 2004 when
strikes in Quebec saw milk diverted
to Ontario plants.
Despite this, profits were $9.7
million, about one per cent higher
than 2004.
John Smith, vice-president of
marketing said Gay Lea’s branded
include farmers of 12 types of
livestock and poultry farms from
across Ontario.
Complimentary copies of the
calendar are being distributed to
provincial, federal and municipal
politicians as well as media and
grocery stores across Ontario. The
calendar is also available at a cost of
$10 each plus shipping from the
OFAC office.
Call 519-837-1326 to order your
copy or visit www.ofac.org
This project was funded, in
part, through sponsorship
from Ontario farm groups
and agribusiness as well as
through contributions by Canada
and the Province of Ontario
under the Canada-Ontario
Research and Development (CORD)
program, an initiative of the
federal-provinci al- territorial
Holidays!
LARGE
SELECTION OF
INSTOCK
WALLPAPER
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Goderich
butter dropped market share this
year but a concerted effort to
recapture the brand’s popularity has
been paying off with sales
increasing in October.
The co-op’s sour cream sales
followed a similar trend, dropping
throughout the year but recovering
in October.
Lacteeze, the company’s non
dairy milk substitute beverage also
suffered a substantial market share
Agricultural Policy Framework
designed to position Canada’s
agri-food sector as a world
leader.
412 Queen Street,
Blyth, ON
- Dana Weber -
(519) 523-9555
thevillagebarber@hotmail.com
Open Wed., December 21 'til 8 pm
Mon. & Hies 9-2;
Wed. - Fri. 9-5; SaL 8-1
FREE GIFT WITH EVERY PURCHASE
THE MUNICIPALITY
OF HURON EAST
is in the process of updating
the Zoning By-Laws of the
former Municipalities
All Landowners & Residents are invited
to two open houses on:
Wednesday, December 14,h
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Brussels Arena
or
Thursday, December 15"’
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Huron East Town Hall, Seaforth
to discuss the proposed draft Zoning By-Law.
Further information, including draft maps,
available at:
• www.huroneast.com
• Seaforth or Brussels Libraries
• Huron East Municipal Office
loss with a plan to rebuild sales.
A bright spot is the company’s
Nordica cottage cheese line where
single-serving packaging has
opened new markets.
McGillvray said innovations like
the single serving packaging and
spreadable butter prove the need for
continued development of new
products.
Andy Colatosti, vice-president of
sales, said sales were down five per
The Agricultural Adaptation
Council administers the CORD
program on behalf of the
province.
cent from the target for the year but
the company is budgeting for 6.3 per
cent growth in 2006 with a goal of
$350 million in sales.
McGillvray said the Teeswater
plant continues to be under utilized
despite an investment in upgrading
equipment, but significant progress
has been made.
Frank
McCourt
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