New check-off fee for Ontario's goat milk producers

Thursday, December 12, 2013

by DAVE PINK

A newly announced funding deal for the non-profit organization that speaks for Ontario’s goat farmers could open the door to wider consumer acceptance of goat milk products.

Ontario Goat, along with Hewitt’s Dairy Ltd. and the Ontario Dairy Goat Co-operative Inc. agreed this week to a check-off system where goat milk producers will be charged a half-cent for every litre of milk delivered for processing, effective Jan. 1.

“It will provide some stability,” says Jennifer Haley, the executive director of Guelph-based Ontario Goat.  “We’ll be able to have a budget, and we’ll be able to do some of the projects important to our members.”

That budget will amount to about $130,000. “It’s not substantial, but it’s something we can work with.”

On the agenda is a badly needed dairy goat cost of production study. Growth in the goat industry, Haley says, has outpaced Ontario Goat’s ability to provide support services. “Our information benchmarking has not kept pace. The industry has grown rapidly, but it’s grown on its own without any help.”

As well, the money will be used to step up industry communications and consumer promotions.

Ontario Goat has about 400 members, scattered throughout the province, including 230 who are licensed to sell milk. Up until now, Ontario Goat got by on limited funding from the province’s Ontario Agricultural Adaptation Council.

But, with changing demographics and changing tastes, the goat industry sees the opportunity to transform itself from a niche market to a mainstream food supplier. Traditionally, goat products have found favour in the ethnic market, among people from countries where goat milk and goat meat are commonly consumed. As Haley points out, “Globally, more people drink goat’s milk than cow’s milk.”

However, a younger generation of Canadians seems more receptive to non-traditional foods. “We’re also finding with the traditional consumer that we’re picking up a lot of traction,” she says.

Currently, about 85 per cent of the goat milk produced in Ontario goes to cheese production, a product that has already gained wide acceptance in Canada. As for fluid milk, Haley says people with allergies to cow’s milk or people with lactose intolerance might want to give it a try. The lactose in goat’s milk is easier to break down, she says.

Coby Tenvoorde, general manager of the Ontario Dairy Goat Co-operative Inc., says the check-off deal is a step in the right direction. “It is really good to have one voice to the government,” she says.

The co-operative is a broker for milk and sells to dairies. “Our main goal is to get the best quality milk to processors,” she says.

The co-operative has 105 members across the province, but Tenvoorde says it will be adding 14 more in the near future, largely because of the increasing interest in goat’s milk. “We need more volume,” she says.”

Christine Rohrbach, the general manager of Hagersville-based Hewitt’s Dairy, praised the new check off deal and said it will give more power to Ontario Goat to raise the product’s profile. “It’s very exciting,” she says. “Ultimately, it’s about educating the consumer about goat’s milk.”

Hewitt’s produces a wide variety of goat’s milk products, as well as traditional cow’s milk products that are widely available in health food stores and in some mainstream food stores. Goat’s milk cheese is no longer just a niche product, but one with wide acceptance among consumers, she confirms.

Rohrbach says there is a willingness among consumers to try new things. “People want dairy products,” she says, recognizing that some can’t digest cow’s milk. “Goat’s milk may be an option,” she says.

The check-off agreement will remain in place for two years. BF