Article from the Brant Museum and Archives Files
BRANT NEWS, Dec. 3, 1980, p.12, John Merriman’s Brantford
A family enterprise – Brant dairy…they still deliver
Brant Dairy
It was during the early part of World War I that John A. Campbell bought a 250-acre farm
on Henry St. He started off breeding show cattle and the Holstein-Friesian Association
aided him in this endeavour.
Soon after, his two sons, George and Donald, became old enough to assist their father so
he decided to quit the 'show cattle' business in favour of developing a milk herd. Actually,
the move could be attributed to a shortage of manpower, but that is beside the point.
IN THE DAIRY BUSINESS
In any event, it proved a turning point for the Campbells, father and sons, because it led
them straight into the dairy buainess. However, the precise manner in which the
Campbells got into the dairy business requires a good deal of explanation.
In the early 1900s there were some 20 dairies operating in Brantford, a city with a
population of some 35,000. One was the Caincroft Dairy and P .S. Cairns started
delivering milk in the city from his farm four miles east of Brantford. His business grew and
soon he purchased the Victoria Dairy. Sbortly thereafter he decided to enlarge the
company and in Nov., 1921, a new company, the Brant Co-operative Dairy Co. Limited - a
dairy said to be 'owned and operated by dairy farmers themselves under the Cairncroft
Dairy was established.
In the summer of 1922 land was purchased at 368 Dalhousie St. and a modern dairy
building and erected and new equipment installed. The executive of the new company
included: John A. Campbell, president: W .B. Mason, vice-president: Wilfred Edmondson,
secretary: and Messrs. P.S. Cairns and C. W. Perrin, directors.
The company proved successful and in 1935-36 John A. Campbell bougbt out Peter
Cairns and became sole owner of Brant Co-operative Dairy Co. Limited. A few years later,
after George, John Campbell's eldest son, had completed his education and started
working with his father at the dairy. Meanwhile, George's brother, Don, while interested in
the dairy business continued to operate the family farm.
NAME CHANGE INDICATED
It was in the early 1960s that George Campbell decided to have the company charter
changed and the name to Brant Dairy Company Limited. The next step was for the
company to buy the total assets of the farms. From 1960 to 1971, George and Donald
Campbell purchased all the shares belonging to their father and became sole owners of
Brant Dairy Company Limited, 368 Dalhousie St., Brantford, Ont.
But there is much more to come.
SITUATION INVOLVED
The William Brittain and Sons' Valley Farm Dairy is considered the oldest and one of the
largest dairies in Brantford, having originated in 1883. For some 40 years. William Brittain
delivered his milk products direct from his farm to the consumer every morning. However,
after that length of time he purchased a property at 89 Colborne St. W.
Some years later Brittain's Dairy was purchased by Robert MacNichol, who earlier had
bought Maple Leaf Dairy and operated it in what became the Oddfellows' Hall and carried
on until he sold his milk business to, Brant Dairy Company Limited in 1961. His ice cream
business was purchased by Caswell Dairy, Simcoe, Ont.
Before going into detail on the operation of Brant Dairy which, after all, is really what this
article is all about, one has to explain away the many dairies operating in the city and what
happened to them.
Well, according to George Campbell, with whom I spent some time recently, names like
Silverwoods and Bordens, the so-called 'giants' of the dairy business, were active locally
for some years. For example, Brant Creameries Ltd., the original plant of which was in
West Brantford but was later moved to 13-15 Grey St., and the Hygiencie Dairy Co. Ltd.,
which started in 1912, were both acquired by Silverwoods but closed out in 1977 and were
subsequently managed by Silverwoods as operating depots.
City Dairy , located on Murray St., was purchased by Purity Dairy on Colborne St. which,
in turn, was taken over by Terrace Hill Dairy on West St., which was later bought out by
Bordens. Later, Terrace Hill Dairy was used by Bordens simply as an operating depot until
closed completely.
Thus by degrees and from this rather sketchy history one can readily see what happened
to local dairies in the 1960 and 19705, and this in spite of a steady increase in population.
AN UNUSUAL SET-UP
And so it is that today Brant Dairy Co. Limited is the only independently owned and
operated dairy in Brantford and the only one processing milk in its own plant at 368
Dalhousie St.
Further, it is the only dairy delivering milk on a regular basis. In our discussions, Mr.
Campbell said that "In addition, 25 years ago, Brant dairy was processing 50-55,000
quarts of milk per month. Today we are processing 650,000 quarts a month.
"Further," he continued, "Brant Dairy was the second dairy in Ontario to change over from
bottles to pure-packed containers. This was in 1957 and resulted in a considerable saving
in space and with tne new technology came new machines. Here again, no expansion in
physical plant was necessary," he pointed out. Brant Dairy obtains its milk supply from
Brant County farms except for about 10 per cent which comes from outside the county.
However, 38 dairy farms supply the company with milk from which is processed milk,
cream, chocolate, sour cream, chip dips and, according to Mr. Campbell: "Orange and
grapefruit juice, etc., in packqes and bottles. We also distribute eggs, butter, yogurt, etc.,
which are purchased and packaged under our own label."
PROFIT SHARING
On the subject of employees, George Campbell told me quite plainly that "We have 42
employees out of which only seven have less than eight years' service with the company.
Twenty-six are outside route sales men. "We operate the company on a total profit-sharing
basis," he continued, adding: "We have no union; employees receive four weeks' holidays
annually, and fairly recently a four day work week for all employees was instituted. The
one day reduction in the work week was the result of the new Ontario regulations which
set the work week at a maximum of 44 hours. "The company's 42 employees now will
work Tues., Wed., Fri. and Sat. Previously employees did not work Wed. and Sun. We
hope and trust," Mr. Campbell stated, "that there will be a minimum of inconvenience to
our customers, but with the regular increases coming in gasoline prices - it is already 26
per cent or more higher - the energy crisis has definitely arrived and we must" do our best
to meet it."
STEADY PROGRESS
In 1946, Brant Dairy had five wagons and two trucks operating on the streets. Today, 28
trucks cover Brantford and Brant County, and to the south, Waterford. Simcoe and Port
Dover receive regular deliveries.
THIRD GENERATION
John A. Campbell was born on the Onondaga Road in 1889 and died in 1974, but not
before he saw his business well established and in good hands, those of his sons George
and Donald, who themselves are training their sons, Bill and Jeff, to take over from their
fathers in due course. Thus Brant Dairy will at least be operating, and successfully, too, I'll
warrant, by third generation Campbells. And...maybe a fourth generation? Who knows.
Time along will tell.
COMMUNITY SERVICE WORK
For some years George Campbell has been active in community service work. He was
president of The Rotary Club of Brantford in 1972 and is still a member; was chairman of
the Board of Governors of the Brantford General Hospitals and still is a member, and he is
on the Board of Governors of McMaster University.
Donald is a past president of the Brant Curling Club and currently is president of the
Ontario Curling Association. He also has been a director of The Rotary Club of Brantford. .
Finally, it is of interest to note that both George and Donald Campbell prefer country living
to that of the city. George lives off the Hardy Road on the former C.G. Ellis property, while
Donald lives on the former Sterne property. R1, St. George.
Finally, I said to George Campbell: "I assume you are president of Brant Dairy and that
brother Don is vice-president?" to which query he replied: "We have no president. I am
vice-president and Don is secretary-treasurer. After all, we are all in this operation
together - the Campbells and the employees."