Canadian dairy producer Gay Lea Foods Co-operative has sold Notre Dame Creamery to local peer Fromagerie Chaeban.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
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Located in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba, the creamery has been operational from the same location since its inception in 1921.
It is known for producing “high quality, conventionally churned” butter in small batches.
The creamery will remain in operation at its current location, and all seven employees will continue in their roles, Gay Lea Foods said in a statement.
The sale comes just three years after Gay Lea Foods acquired Notre Dame Creamery as part of its 2022 purchase of Bothwell Cheese.
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By GlobalDataThe latest transaction includes a “long-term supply agreement” under which Notre Dame Creamery will continue sourcing cream from Bothwell Cheese.
The ownership transition will not impact the production of Notre Dame-branded butter and other products at the creamery.
Gay Lea Foods’ president and CEO Suzanna Dalrymple said: “The facility in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes will become a key manufacturing site for Joseph Chaeban’s operations, with plans to invest and transform the business for the betterment of Manitoba’s dairy industry.
“For Gay Lea Foods, this sale was an opportunity to transition ownership of a historic Manitoba company to an exceptional new owner, allowing our co-operative to focus its efforts on growing the award-winning Bothwell Cheese brand nationally.”
Fromagerie Chaeban is owned by dairy scientist and cheesemaker Joseph Chaeban, who also runs Winnipeg-based Chaeban Ice Cream and Chaeban Artisan cheese shop.
Chaeban said the Notre Dame Creamery acquisition will help “expand and grow our family-run business”.
Gay Lea’s divestment of Notre Dame Creamery follows a series of recent asset sales.
In March, it sold Hewitt’s Dairy in Hagersville, Ontario, to Dairy Fountain, with operations continuing at both the plant and its associated Dairy Bar.
In July last year, the co-operative entered into a letter of intent to sell Thornloe Cheese to Triple “A” Cheese.
Gay Lea Foods acquired Thornloe Cheese from food manufacturer EastGen in 2019.
