City Dairy Company Limited

Did You Know?

• Walter Massey opened Dentonia Park farm in 1897 to raise Guernsey, Jersey and Ayrshire cows, originally to supply milk for the Masseys.
• After Borden took over the processing business, the Massey family donated the farm lands.

Rivals and later entrants

In 1913 City Dairy was one of 15 dairies in Toronto. Other dairies included Caufield and Sons/Caufield’s Dairy (c. 1888–1945, acquired by Borden in 1929), Brampton Dairy, Acme Dairy Limited/Acme Farmer Dairy (acquired by Eastern Dairies in 1929, Dominion Dairies Limited of Montreal in 1943, National Dairy Products of New York in 1961 with Sealtest branding, and finally under Ault Foods in 1981), Farmer’s Dairy, Toronto Creamery, Briar Hill Dairy, White Oak Dairy, S. Price and Sons Limited (founded 1891 by Stephen Price, sold to City Dairy in 1911), J. O. Reynolds, Riverdale Dairy, Richardson’s Brothers, High Park Dairy, and Walmer Dairy (site now home to George Brown College).

Walker, Richardson, Briar Hill and Acme were located near each other and commemorated by the City of Toronto with a renamed roadway called Cream Top Lane. Other dairy companies that existed before major producers dominated the market included Roselawn Farms Dairy, Fairglen Dairy (opened 1934, later Kemp’s Fairglen Dairy, acquired by Silverwood Dairy in 1961), Oakland Dairy, Rogers Dairy (1930–1967), and Uplands Dairy (merged with Mac’s Milk in 1968).