Upper Canada Creamery is in every sense a family business. Helping with breakfast preparation on Fri., Aug. 15 were Bethany, Hannah, and Noah Biemond. Their sister Miriam was working elsewhere when this photo was taken, but each member of the family has played a role in the success of the business. Tinkess Photo

IROQUOIS – They say time flies when you’re having a good time. It also moves quite quickly when you’re working extremely hard to build something, something that will stand the test of time, provide for your family, and give back to the community that helped you grow.

For Josh and Ellen Biemond and their family, and Upper Canada Creamery, the business they have grown, it is difficult to grasp that it has been ten years since they first began. As Ellen said, “It’s been quite a ride.”

“Things have progressed a lot,” said Josh.  When we started, we were a one trick pony, just yogurt, one kind of yogurt, one simple yogurt. And then two years later, we added a cheese line. We do cheese, fresh cheese, curds, cheese, four different flavors of cheese. And then with that, you know, came the fresh cheese curds and things like that. And then after that was milk, fluid milk.  This year, we added cream and butter as well.

“We are one of the smallest plants in Ontario, volume wise, but we hold the most amount of licenses out of anyone.”

Josh says that they discovered that once they had acquired a customer, they eventually wanted all the products Upper Canada Creamery had to offer, so every time they added a new product, it was almost a guaranteed sale. “It’s kind of this progression in business, and this year is the first year we’re going to be using 100% of our milk, all the time. That was our goal when we set out.”

“To celebrate our 10 years, we decided, because of weather and because we’re always at farmers markets every Saturday and Sunday, that Thursday and Friday were the only days to serve breakfast. So, we gave people six different dates, starting on July 17 and 18, and then we did it every other week after that, to allow people to allow for time in their schedules. Every week it’s been more and more people, so we did a 50-person maximum on the bacon.”

This is where it gets really interesting if you’re a fan of supporting local business. The yogurt is easy to understand, since the Biemond’s produce it themselves. “The bacon is from local farm in Maitland, who takes our whey from the cheese production, and also buys his grain from us,” said Josh. “They’re pasture, forest raised pigs, and the bacon is delightful; it is super good. And then the eggs are from a lady just down the street that also buys her grain from us, and then the berries are from Dentz’s.  It’s a true local meal.”

Proceeds from the breakfasts (suggested donation of $10) go to Community Food Share. They expect to be able to turn over about $2,000 following the final breakfast on Aug. 15.

As good as things are going now, it wasn’t always easy. Like many businesses, Upper Canada Creamery struggled for a bit during the COVID years.

“It was nip and tuck for a while,” said Josh. “We had our three, four years and then COVID, right? You had to take what you thought you knew about business, throw it out and restart.

“For us, our real shift was going from doing the retail aspect of things to farmers markets. For us, that’s where our people are. I wish we could do more farmers markets, because we’re not doing a lot of the smaller local ones. We’re doing some of the bigger ones in Ottawa, and things like that because you just need the flow of people. It’s tricky that way.”

With Josh off to serve customers, Ellen Biemond had a moment to talk. She agreed that the past ten years had gone by very quickly and spoke about how the idea of a fundraiser for Community Food Share to celebrate ten years in business came about.

“Hannah and Josh were all over the breakfast on the farm idea,” said Ellen. I’m on the board at the foodbank, so that’s easy.

Having all the food locally sourced was very important.

“That’s what we’re most passionate about,” said Ellen. “That’s why I’m on the Food Bank Board, because it’s important that people have access to food, and good food.”

That was what was being served to everyone who stopped by, and it was something to see, Ellen and Josh speaking with everyone who attended, daughters Bethany and Hannah, and son Noah busy preparing food and taking orders. A third daughter, Miriam was at work but might be stopping by later in the day.

A business, a team, a family working together to build something and each enjoying what they were doing.

There are many ways of measuring success, but Upper Canada Creamery and the Biemonds check all the boxes. Here is to the next ten years and beyond.

Upper Canada Creamery is located at 11575 Waddell Road in Iroquois, Ontario.