William Neilson Dairy Limited is a Canadian dairy company owned by Saputo Inc. The company is based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. In the United States, its products are sold under the name Neilson. Its products are sold at

Loblaws Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the province of Ontario, and in Alberta and British Columbia under the Loblaws CityMarket banner. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companie ...

Real Canadian Superstore Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of supermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to Superstore, or, less commonly, RCSS (pronounced “Rick’s”). Originating in Western Canada in the l ...

No frills A no-frills or no frills service or product is one for which the non-essential features have been removed to keep the price low. The term "Ruffle (sewing), frills" originally refers to a style of fabric decoration. Something offered to customers f ...

Giant Tiger Giant Tiger Stores Limited is a Canadian discount store chain which operates over 260 stores across Canada. The company's stores operate under the Giant Tiger banner in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island ...

Fortinos Fortinos is a Canadian supermarket chain that was founded in Hamilton, Ontario. It operates 24 stores across the western Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited. History In 1961, Giovanni (John) Fortino, a ...

, and

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (colloquially Shoppers; named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist ...

, among others.

History

The company was founded by William Neilson (1844–1915) in 1893 as one of many independent dairy producers in Canada. Neilsons began as a milk retailer, and then switched to cream and ice cream products. Neilson Dairy became William Neilson Limited in 1907. After the mid-20th century, many smaller companies were taken over by larger corporations. William Neilson was sold to

George Weston Limited George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian holding company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of the Choice Properties real estate investment trust and Loblaw Companies Limited, C ...

in 1947. Neilson Dairy became part of the Saputo corporate group after George Weston Limited sold the dairy unit in 2008.

Products

A list of brands and products sold by Neilson Dairy past and present: * Neilson dairy products including,

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

and instant

pudding Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...

s. *

Häagen-Dazs Häagen-Dazs ( , ) is an American ice cream brand, established by Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York, in 1960, owned by Froneri, a joint venture between Nestlé and PAI Partners. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolat ...

licence – acquired in 1981, sold to Ault Foods in 1990. * Cadbury Confectionery Company Canadian operations – acquired in 1987, sold all confectionery and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

products back to British Cadbury in 1996. Neilson licenses Caramilk and Crispy Crunch-flavoured chocolate milk. *

Chocolate bar A chocolate bar is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nut (fruit), nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily breakable, chocolate bar is also called a tablet. In some variet ...

s and confectionery – Jersey Milk, Mr. Big, Malted Milk, Sweet Marie and Crispy Crunch (for which the recipe was changed), Pep, Will-O-Pak sold to British Cadbury in 1996. Jersey Milk and Will-O-Paks continue to have the Neilson brand name on them; however, they are now manufactured by Mondelez Canada. * Bite-size chocolates – Neilson sells several varieties of chocolate snacks, including Golden Buds, small milk chocolates that are very similar to Rosebuds; Slowpokes, similar to

Turtles Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtle ...

; and Willocrisp, flaky peanut wafers dipped in chocolate, similar to Crispy Crunch.

Operations

Neilson dairy operations past and present: *

Beachville, Ontario South-West Oxford is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within Oxford County. The township had a population of 7,664 in the 2016 Canadian census. A predominantly rural municipality, South-West Oxford was formed in 1975 throu ...

– former cheese operations (closed) *

Georgetown, Ontario Georgetown is a large unincorporated community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Halton. The town includes several small villages or settlements such as Norval, Ontario, Norval, Limehouse, Ontario, Lime ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, Ontario – formerly Royal Dairy (closed) *

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Ontario – formerly Clark Dairy *

, Ontario – formerly Donlands Dairy and Neilson-Cadbury chocolate factory – sold *

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

References

External links

* {{Saputo Companies based in Toronto Food and drink companies established in 1893 Canadian chocolate companies Dairy products companies of Canada 1893 establishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1893