Crèmerie St-Edouard launches on-farm milk processing in Alberta
Nikki and Richard Brousseau, dairy producers in northeastern Alberta, have established Crèmerie St-Edouard to process milk and sell it directly from their farm. The facility serves demand for non-standardised fluid milk in the surrounding area and uses low-temperature vat pasteurisation. The products are sold through a farm shop, creating a direct link between the dairy and consumers.
The business operates within Canada’s supply-management system and Alberta’s sanitation rules. Under the arrangement required by the provincial marketing board, milk processed on the farm is formally sold to the board and then bought back before processing. The physical movement of the milk remains on the property, using hose connections between the relevant facilities.
Preparing the operation required legal research and discussions with regulators over several years. The Brousseaus obtained certification as bulk-milk graders and met inspection requirements from three agencies. The inspections covered the dairy barn, the processing area and the retail store.
The processing room occupies a converted section of the main barn. It handles between 600 and 750 litres a week, compared with total daily production of about 1,000 litres from the farm’s 32 milking cows. The milk is not standardised to the fat level used for ordinary supermarket milk: tests show about 4.5% butterfat or more, with the level varying by season. Products are sold in two-litre returnable glass bottles and larger plastic pails. Customers bring containers back through a washing and exchange system.
The farm also keeps calves with their mothers for three months after calving. This approach required the herd to be assessed for cows that would release milk in the parlour while nursing a calf. The Brousseaus selected animals able to meet both requirements, after early problems with milking efficiency.
Crèmerie St-Edouard’s model combines on-farm processing, direct retailing and a cow-calf management system. Its products are offered as close to raw milk as permitted under Alberta rules, while the business remains subject to the province’s marketing and inspection requirements.
