LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2021

Families at Work Together, Grow Together

THE DEN HAAN FAMILY OF SHELDON CREEK DAIRY AND THE SPECK FAMILY OF HENRY OF PELHAM WINERY ONWORK-LIFE, LEGACY AND ONTARIO DAIRY ANDWINE. You may never have met the den Haan or the Speck families, but you’ve almost certainly encountered the fruits of their labour. The den Haans own and operate Sheldon Creek Dairy in Alliston, Ontario where they produce a range of artisanal milk, flavoured milk, A2 milk and other small-batch dairy products like sour cream, yogurt, kefir and ghee using milk from their own small herd of dairy cows. Their legendary glass-bottled cream-top whole milk is so rich, it has to be stored on its side or the cream will seal the top of the bottle. In St. Catharines, Ontario, the Specks preside over Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery, one of the largest Canadian independent wineries. It’s famous for its rich history and quality as well as for its pioneering role in advancing Niagara wine to world rankings with the cultivation and elevation of Baco Noir, a unique varietal that sets the region apart in the global wine market. Meet the den Haan family SHELDON CREEK DAIRY | ALLISTON, ONTARIO

Emily—a natural with animals who famously could tell each of the cows apart by appearance and personality in grade school—is now responsible for the care of the family dairy cow herd. She shares the short version of the family history. “Our opa and oma had a milk run, delivering milk and cream to doorsteps in Holland. They moved to Canada after the war and were sponsored by a farm about a half-hour away from our farm now. They started Haanview Farms with a single cow from the sponsored farmwho had a piece of glass in her foot and was headed for slaughter. They bought her, nursed her back to health and that cow, Maggie, is the matriarch for 75 per cent of our herd. If you come into our barn today, any of the cows whose names start with M can trace their line back to 1962, to that original cow.” Ever since Haanview Farms shipped its first batch of milk, their story is a history of collaboration, community activism and entrepreneurship. Always passionate about quality local food and ingredients, Bonnie and John made the decision to explore building an on-farm dairy. “This was a time when we had people coming to the farm asking for raw milk, which we could not sell, of course.” shares Bonnie. “It showed us, however, that if we could produce a natural product with the taste of rawmilk, there was a market for it. In 2010 we started planning to build our own dairy and in 2012, we opened. “Mom had a corn stand at the end of the driveway, and people from the city would come up for ‘Bonnie’s Corn’,” explains Marianne, who manages product development and marketing at Sheldon Creek. “We knew that people would make the drive for something that was really good. In May 2012, we did our first batch of 300 litres. It was probably the scariest thing we’ve ever done. It took nine hours. In comparison, we could do 6,000 litres in nine hours now, maybe even more. It was peanuts.” After their first successful production, the family at first celebrated, and quickly realized they had to sell the milk. They started small and local, and when a Toronto newspaper wrote a story about their milk, city customers made the drive all summer to pick up their milk. The family knew they needed to find retailers in the city to get through the winter, so Marianne would make her sales visits when she visited her then-boyfriend (and now husband) Mike, who lived in Toronto. “At first, store owners didn’t see the point in adding another milk to their dairy shelves, but then they tasted it,” says Bonnie. “Tasting the milk really sold it. They loved the chocolate milk, of course, but the reaction to the white milk was just as enthusiastic.” Marianne attributes some of the success of their business to growing consumer interest in locally grown, raised and produced food. “In 2012, people started to really grab hold of the idea of “local”. A lot of the retailers we approached were independent, family-owned businesses who were serving customers looking for unique, local products. At the time, there weren’t a lot of dairy products offered in glass bottles, so our milk stood out. Our white and chocolate milk were selling well, but what really launched us the first year was our Holiday

The den Haans are a multi-generational dairy farming family driven by a passion for quality, local food and an ingenuity that comes from a shared entrepreneurial spark. In fact, the vast majority of Ontario dairy farms are family owned and operated, producing quality local milk to some of the highest standards in the world, a vocation that can bring a myriad of joys and almost as many trials. Dairy farmer and matriarch Bonnie den Haan sums it up very well: “Things sometimes hit the rocks, but if you keep your cool, think about things long enough and ask the right people for help, things will work out.” Haanview Farms started in 1952, with Bonnie and John den Haan taking over from John’s parents in 1981 and opened Sheldon Creek Dairy in 2012. Today the farm and dairy are operated by Bonnie, John, their daughters Marianne and Emily and Marianne’s husband, Mike Edward. Over time, each family member gravitated to a role where their individual talents could help shape and grow the family business.