Organic Meadow will soon open a local dairy in partnership with Steen’s Dairy of Erin.

The Erin dairy couldn’t expand there any further, said Organic Meadow CEO Steve Cavell in an interview at company headquarters on Highway 6 just north of Guelph.

“We’re happy to be coming to Guelph. It’s the agriculture capital of the province,” he said in an interview.

In late winter or early spring, the 19,000-sq.-ft. dairy will be operational, said Cavell. The old dairy in Erin was just 1,200 square feet. The dairy’s 19 employees will work at the new Guelph dairy, he said. There will also be new jobs at the Laird Road facility, he added, but he couldn’t say how many.

Organic Meadow, whose member farms produce things such as organic milk, ice cream and eggs, moved its head office to Guelph about 10 years ago. The co-operative has as members more than 100 family-owned farms in the province. The closest ones to Guelph are two farms in Elora and one in Cambridge, said Cavell.

He said in the 20 years since Organic Meadow was founded in Durham, Ont., the organic food industry has changed completely.

“It’s changed from what we’d call rubber boots organics, people who are outside the mainstream,” he said. “Now 60 per cent of our customers are mixed cart consumers – they’re buying both organic and non-organic products.”

He said there’s also a more focus on distributing products in grocery stores. They also have to compete with large companies that are also in the organics market. The organic cooperative brings consumers and farmers closer together, said Cavell.

Organic Meadow products are available in more than 800 stores across Canada, including many locally.