(Saputo video screengrab via YouTube)

Saputo to shut two dairy plants in East

Canadian dairy processing giant Saputo, in a move it describes as “right-sizing” its manufacturing footprint, plans to close two of its plants in Eastern Canada within a year. Montreal-based Saputo said Thursday it will close the former Riverside Cheese and Butter plant at Trenton, Ont. this September and its Baxter dairy plant at Saint John,

Justin Girard

Year in Review: Local food producers struggle ahead

Lack of supply chains, business risk management programs, and clear regulations are keeping local food from reaching its full potential in Manitoba, say producers, experts

Manitoba has a way to go before it’s a friendly place for small food and drink producers, several articles demonstrated throughout the year. Be it crippling regulations, lack of risk management programs for small farmers, or simply lack of local supply chains, several factors say Manitoba’s local food system has yet to fully mature. “It


Manitoba agriculture minister Blaine Pedersen (l) said Loaf and Honey’s raw milk cheese-making process does not consistently produce a safe product. Dustin Peltier (r), seen here inside his cheese storage room, along with partner Rachel Isaak have decided to forgo any further attempts to comply due to financial burden.

Agriculture minister Pedersen responds to cheese makers

Unvalidated production practices pose a risk to consumers, the minister said

Ag Minister Blaine Pedersen responded to Trappist cheese makers’ allegations that department staff blocked their approval, saying the province’s duty is to protect consumers. “Loaf and Honey has been unable to demonstrate through microbiological testing that the method it is using to produce raw milk cheese consistently produces a safe product,” said Pedersen in an



(ThornloeCheese.com)

Gay Lea buys northern Ontario cheesemaker

Ontario’s first producer of verified-grass-fed butter and cheeses is set to become part of the province’s biggest dairy co-operative. Gay Lea Foods said Monday it has completed a deal to buy Thornloe Cheese from its current owner, Guelph-based dairy genetics firm EastGen, for an undisclosed sum. Thornloe Cheese on its website says the business takes

Dustin Peltier and Rachel Isaak say the province has blocked them at every turn in the process of bringing their traditional, Trappist-style cheese to market.

Artisanal cheese makers cheesed off

‘Complex, inconsistently interpreted regulations’ have left one couple near bankruptcy and other small food processors in limbo

A Manitoba couple says red tape has killed 100 years of cheese history and put them near bankruptcy. Husband and wife team Dustin Peltier and Rachel Isaak, along with Peltier’s parents Gary and Silver Peltier, say the province has blocked them at every turn as they’ve attempted to bring their traditional, Trappist-style cheese to market


The case of the disappearing food act

Inspectors and food producers alike seem to struggle to interpret regulations on food production. “No one in the industry would say there’s a lack of regulation,” said Dave Shambrock, executive director of Food & Beverage Manitoba. Actually, there are many sets of overlapping regulations, he said. In 2009, the NDP provincial government appeared to be

Agropur’s Fromagerie Damafro had been known as the developer of Quebec’s first-ever soft washed rind cheese, sold under the Saint-Damase brand. (OurCheeses.com)

Agropur halts talks with Quebec goat dairy producers

Agropur has gone back to Plan A for the fate of a major Quebec soft cheese processing plant after halting talks with the province’s goat dairy farmer association. Canada’s biggest dairy co-operative had announced in September last year it would close the former Fromagerie Damafro plant at Saint-Damase, Que. in April this year, but delayed


Italian sausages, cheeses and other traditional foods for sale in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo in December 2016. (Florin1961/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. set to widen trade war on EU front

London/Brussels/Washington | Reuters — The United States won approval on Wednesday to impose import tariffs on US$7.5 billion worth of European aircraft and agricultural goods over illegal EU subsidies handed to Airbus, threatening to trigger a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war as the global economy falters. The decision by the World Trade Organization pushes a 15-year