Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited has announced a major expansion of its long-standing partnership with Second Harvest, committing $1.2 million over three years to support food rescue and redistribution efforts across Canada.
The Canadian dairy co-operative, owned by farmers in Ontario and Manitoba, is joining forces with Second Harvest — the country’s largest food rescue organization — to address two growing concerns: food insecurity and food waste. The initiative is expected to provide the equivalent of 3.6 million meals to communities in need over the next 36 months.
“Gay Lea Foods has a long history of supporting Canadian communities, and we are proud to deepen our commitment through this transformative national partnership with Second Harvest,” said Suzanna Dalrymple, President & CEO of Gay Lea Foods. “Together, we can help put good food on more plates and reduce the amount of edible food ending up in landfills across our country.”
Second Harvest rescues surplus, nutritious food from across the supply chain and redistributes it to a network of more than 5,000 non-profits across every province and territory. Last year, the organization recovered over 87 million pounds of food — food that might otherwise have gone to waste.
“This expanded partnership with Gay Lea Foods shows just how much impact purpose-driven businesses can have,” said Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest. “By providing both funding and surplus product, Gay Lea Foods is helping us get nutritious, high-quality food — like dairy — into communities that really need it, while also keeping good food out of landfills.”
The roots of this partnership stretch back to 1997, when Gay Lea Foods began donating surplus product to Second Harvest’s Food Rescue program. With the newly expanded collaboration, Gay Lea Foods will now be increasing its donation of surplus dairy products from production facilities across Canada, ensuring more non-profit organizations receive essential food items.
The announcement also highlights Gay Lea Foods’ broader community commitment, with the company reinvesting one percent of pre-tax earnings into Canadian communities each year through partnerships like this one and through the Gay Lea Foundation.
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