January, 2012
Saxby Foods, a local dessert manufacturer that opened in Edmonton in 1994, went out of business on Tuesday.
The receiver, PwC, changed the locks on Saxby's south-side manufacturing plant on short notice.
"They changed the locks and shut the business down, literally as we were making cakes," said founder and owner Jonathan Avis.
All 110 Saxby workers lost their jobs. Avis has fielded calls from other food plants about employing some of them, but he predicted that many former employees will be forced to take pay cuts.
Alberta consumers now have one more way to express their values, support local producers, limit food miles, demand organic and make healthy choices. Alberta organic milk has come to local Safeway stores under the O Organic label and to locations across Alberta under the Saxby Creamery label.
In the past, most organic milk sold in Alberta came from BC or from one organic dairy in Alberta, Vital Green Farms, near Picture Butte. Often demand exceeded supply.
Now, eight more dairy farmers have made the commitment to convert their herds, land and minds to organics. “I love the choice we made to go organics” claims Brooke Wyntes of Clearview Dairy. “I don’t want pesticides and hormones going into my body or my children.”
Organic milk is better for you than the traditional pinta, research suggests.
When scientists compared the fat content of 22 brands of milk sold in British supermarkets, the organic bottles and cartons came out on top.
EDMONTON — Six years ago, a litre of organic milk was one of the toughest items to check off on your grocery list.
Determined consumers had their sources, but it took a lot of driving around, and when they finally found it, the cost was roughly twice as much as conventional milk.
In 2007, Alberta Milk, an organization representing the province’s dairy industry, decided to check out the potential market for organic dairy products.
Article written by Judy Schultz for Organic Alberta.
“We must change our thinking for the general good of humanity and the preservation of the food supply system.”
– Jonathan Avis, Saxby Foods Ltd
The first consumer to love organic milk was probably Cleopatra, who bathed in it for velvety skin. Dairy herds originated in ancient Egypt, and as chemical additives were far in the future, her beauty bath must have been organic.
Forward now to Alberta, circa 2007. Most of us live in towns or cities. Alberta Milk knows there are consumers asking for organic milk, with better reasons than Cleopatra’s. But these consumers are relatively few in number, and organic milk production in Alberta is literally a drop in the bucket.
