Voluntary and Open Membership

Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd. only offers membership to current, active dairy producers in Ontario, with a DFO license or OMAFRA license, (shipping to Hewitt's dairy) and in Manitoba with a DFM license.

Membership as described below is the policy today set out by the Board of Directors and is subject to change per the Board’s direction, at any time.

Producer Membership

To become a producer member of Gay Lea Foods, you must be a shareholder or family member in a cow or goat milking operation licensed to produce milk in Ontario or Manitoba.  Goat producers are eligible for membership if they are shipping to Gay Lea Foods / Hewitt’s Dairy.  Producer members are required to purchase, or be working towards, 3 shares for every 1,000 litres of annual milk production for Gay Lea Foods fiscal year October 1 – September 30^th.  The par value of a producer share is $17 and your return on investment is comprised of patronage earned on milk shipments to DFO, DFM (cows) and milk shipments to Gay Lea Foods / Hewitt’s (goats).  Patronage is declared by the Board annually and all applications are subject to Board review and approval.

Producer Membership is open from October 1^st until April 30^th each year.

Producer Membership Options:

Option 1 – 1% gross milk cheque deduction + a minimum 25% down payment (October 1 – April 30)

Producers can apply for membership October 1^st – April 30^th and agree to commit to 1% of their gross milk cheque + a minimum 25% deposit of the total share requirement to purchase producer shares.  Producers commit to the 1% gross milk cheque deduction until their minimum requirement of shares per 1,000 litres of milk shipped on an annual basis and paid by DFO, DFM (cows), or Gay Lea Foods / Hewitt's (goats) is reached.

Option 2 – Complete upfront purchase of required shares (October 1 – April 30)

Producers can apply for membership October 1^st – April 30^th and purchase the entire minimum requirement upfront, which means a 1% gross milk cheque deduction is not required.

**Producers can do any of the 2 options in October through April.

Example to explain 3 shares  / 1,000 Litres of milk for minimum requirement

To calculate your minimum requirement, take your annual milk volume (let’s use 650,000 litres), divide by 1,000 and multiply 3 and you should get 1,950 producer shares as your requirement.  This is now the minimum number of shares you need to have or be working towards as a producer member, which is based on your annual milk shipments from October 1 – September 30^th each year (what DFO or DFM or Hewitt's/Gay Lea Foods paid you for); butterfat and components are not relevant in calculating this number.

Want to learn more?  Contact a Member Services Rep below:

Wendy Hasson – 1-519-714-0427 – whasson@gayleafoods.com
Stacey Bowles – 1-519-838-7171 – sbowles@gayleafoods.com
Emily Franken – 1-519-838-6234 – efranken@gayleafoods.com