Tentative sale agreement could save northern Ont. cheesemaker
CTV
The owner of Thornloe Cheese announced Wednesday it has a tentative agreement in place to sell the northern Ontario cheesemaker to Mississauga-based Triple ‘A’ Cheese.
The owner of Thornloe Cheese announced Wednesday it has a tentative agreement in place to sell the northern Ontario cheesemaker to Mississauga-based Triple "A" Cheese.
Gay Lea Foods said in a news release that the agreement to sell is contingent on Triple "A" Cheese securing “financing to construct a new facility near the current location. “
“The proposed terms of sale would see Triple "A" Cheese acquire all Thornloe Cheese assets, including the plant, brand, cheese recipes and plant supply quota,” the release said.
Gay Lea announced bought the facility in 2019. In October 2023, however, it said it was closing the business because of the high cost of modernizing the plant.
That decision followed an inspection to determine what would be needed to bring it up to “modern food safety and quality standards.”
It emerged that, given the plant’s age, condition and food safety risk, upgrades would require a minimum investment of $10 million. At that price, the recommendation was to close the facility because the plant wasn’t considered strong enough financially.
