The Huron Expositor, 1973-07-19, Page 105. •
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10-41. HURON exposiTort, SEAFORTH, ONT., Jt11.7‘i 19, 1973 '
9 .6niarg s'SeafOith
to boost reduction
VollAt 4aftie first, the chicken
-4tirthe egg? At GAY Lea Foods,
PaTIOFIY United Dairy Producta
the shade. The operation is com-
pletely air conditioned to keep
the eggs fresh. •••
Working five days a 'week,
on a double shift, 7 a.m. tp
12 a.m., means that the eggs'
are trucked to Seaforth and
graded as fast's-Xs the hens can
lay. them. The plant employs
27 persons. Mr. D. Bannerman,
Inspector for the board of health,
inspects the operation and graded'
eggs prior to shipment for quality
and freshness, 2 or 3 times
a week.
slAlOng with eggs the Gay Lea
chain also process other dairy
products. "They'are the biggest
butter makers in Ontario," ac-
cording ,to Mr. Young, "Our
yogurt is now being sold in New
Brunswick and negotiations are
underway to sell Gay Lea Cheese-
cake in Quebec and United
States."
DAILY
You can buy Gay Lea products
Seaferth, the odds favoUr
• the egg. Eggs, 25 thousand dozen
eggs ,a day come first with the
Gay Lea people,
"We buy eggs from farms in a
75 to 80 mile radius around Sea-
forth," says Tom Young, man-
ager of the plant for the past
seven years. "Gay Lea packs
85,000 dozen eggs weekly' or 45
Loblaws superMarkets . in Tor-
onto and 30,000 dozen under the
Gay Lea label foraeckers stores
in Toronto." "
An egg lover's idea of para-
dise, Gay Lea Foods added a
2,000 sq ft, addition last year.
The plant •is-completely modern:
ized, eggs .now come from the
farms on plastic key trays. These
key' trays are placed on carts,.
each holding 450 dozen eggs,
right at•the farm and then trans-
ported by track to the Seaforth
plant.. There, the eggs are
removed from the carts, the trays -
washed and sterilized and, set
oack on the carts to be returned
o the farmer for refilling.
at the office in Seaforth.
The chain is entirely Canadian,
,operated by a Board of Directors
under a General Manager. The
company also issues debentures
at an interest rate of about'8 per
cent. The directors repoyt...,for
1972 shows 3,507 memb.ers Or
shareholders who are, for the
majority, producers and can fin-
ance and control their own dairy
and poultry products marketing
business in this way.•
"MaCGregor Farms at Kippen •
vas one of the first_producers
:o handle the plastic trays in
:he Seafdrth district," says Tom
eoung, "since the trays, can be
sterilized there is less chance
)f diveasesrpeftig passed on
•.o other producers• using the
,.:rays." •
Grading eggs at, tine plant is
like working in an ,oversized
refrigerator; pot so b on sum-
mer days when, it's 8 degrees in Classified Ads pay . dividends. Tom Young, manager)'
,.., •
FORTH
This tn,achine picks up 5 dozen eggs at a time and lays them on the washer.
, 1*
Employees of Gay .Lea Foods, 'Sea-
forth, process -800,000 'eggs/ daily. A
fleet of three straight truckS' and one
tractor trailer unit pick up the eggs
from area farmers,brink. them in for
processing and then tak&thcm as fax:
as Toronto where they are sold to re-
tail outlets.
_
There are forty-one major egg pro-
ducers. Within, an 80-mile radius of
Seaforth, with about 10 of these being
in the Seaforth area.
A staff of 27 employees works at
the Seaforth plant on a tw6 shift
basis, uride4 the supervision of \man-
ager Tom Young. Gay Lea Foads
9 on the
Opening of 7- Pictured above is a general view.
of the, large egg grader with staff
membeis in the back grohnd.
their
NEW ADDITION
4t the left, Florence Dolrnage,
Seaforth, operates the egg tray wash-
er and loader. ,
At the right, Abner Schultz, Sea-
forth truck driver, unloads a shipment
, of eggs coming. in from the farms. We are pleased to be responsible for the
SerVice and Maintenance of their
Vleet of Trucks. p
Gerald't Datsun Gay Leo Food
CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED
. • - Phone 527-11014 Seaforth s,
SOUTH MAIN STREET ' PHONE 527-1590 SEAFORTH; ONTARIO •