City Dairy Company Limited
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
City Dairy Company Limited was a dairy products firm that was established to deliver high-quality milk in the city of Toronto, Ontario.[1][2] It was founded by Walter Massey (1864–1901), the president of Massey-Harris and a member of the prominent Massey family. It was the first Canadian dairy company to supply pasteurized milk.[1]
The company was founded after Massey whom opened his Dentonia Park farm in 1897 to raised a herd of dairy cattle.[1] consisting of Guernsey, Jersey and Ayrshire cows.[3] The farm was originally opened to supply milk for the Masseys’, but the booming milk market and Massey’s desire for safer milk resulted in the creation of a commercial dairy operation.[4]
Commercial operations
Once Massey embarked on being a commercial operation in 1901, the milk from these cows was sent to a dairy plant at 487 and 563 Spadina Crescent, later known as the Borden Buildings.
City Dairy was one of 15 dairies to supply milk to Toronto residents, one of the closest to the city and noted for the use of pasteurization (1903) to rid of deadly food born disease that plagued 19th Century Toronto.[5]
By 1915, City Dairy controlled 40 per cent of the milk market in Toronto.[6]