Lilydale celebrates 75 years of proudly nourishing Canadians

Lilydale, one of Canada’s leading poultry brands is celebrating an important milestone. Lilydale is amongst Canada’s most remarkable business success stories with innovative products such as fully cooked, ready to eat carved poultry or Ancient Grains breaded turkey strips.

It’s early 1940s and a group of Alberta farmers join together to create a co-operative. At first, the co-operative focuses on eggs but in 1941, the group acquires a processing plant and becomes known as Alberta Poultry Producers Limited. The plant processes both eggs and poultry.

Over the years, the Alberta Poultry Producers Limited business grows and the organization expands its production capabilities in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The name Lilydale first appears in 1976 when the group becomes known as Lilydale Co-operative Limited. In 2005, the company renames itself Lilydale Inc. and in 2012 is acquired by Sofina Foods Inc.

“Lilydale has become and remains one of Canada’s favourite fresh and further processed poultry product manufacturers because of the dedication, passion and hard work of all the employees, past and present, who tirelessly worked to grow its presence and provide high quality and delicious poultry products,” said Wendy Harris, director, marketing for the Lilydale brand at Sofina Foods Inc.

“Giving back to the communities is an integral part of our company’s values. With the support of the Sofina Foundation, our employees volunteered their time at the Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Alberta to clean, paint and redesign the kitchen which was not meeting the needs of the families that this charity serves. In addition, each year, our employees participate in our Dream Builders’ Campaign aiming at collecting funds for local children’s charities. During the 2017 festive season, over 10,000 families were able to enjoy a turkey dinner through our support of various charities and shelters across the country,” added Harris.

To mark this special anniversary year, Lilydale revamped its website (www.lilydale.com) and packaging, and is launching several initiatives including a contest: “75 Years, 75 Winners.” The contest opened June 4th in key markets in Canada and closes August 5th.