Ultima Foods

Ultima Foods Inc. is a Canadian manufacturer and marketer of yogurt and fresh dairy products. Founded in 1993 (with predecessor operations dating to 1971), Ultima Foods is owned by Quebec-based dairy company Agropur. In 2017, the company had 660 employees across the country and annual sales in excess of CA$300 million.[1]

Ultima Foods
Founded1993
HeadquartersSaint-Hubert, Longueuil, Quebec,
Canada
BrandsIögo
Olympic Dairy
RevenueCA$ 300 million (approx.)[1] (2017)
Number of employees
660[1] (2017)
Websiteultimayog.ca

The company launched the iögo brand of yogurt and fresh dairy products in Canada in mid-August 2012,[2][3] and also owns and operates the Olympic brand of dairy products. Ultima Foods also continues to manufacture (but no longer directly sells) Yoplait-branded products in Canada .

History

In 1971, the Quebec-based Coopérative agricole de Granby (renamed Agropur in 1979)[4] obtained the Canadian licence to manufacture and market Yoplait products.[5] In 1993, Agropur's yogurt manufacturing and marketing operations were combined with those of Agrifoods, a federal cooperative owned by 2,500 dairy producers in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, forming Ultima Foods.

In 2004, Ultima Foods acquired Olympic Dairy, a manufacturer of premium natural cultured dairy, organic and soy products. For over 30 years, Olympic has produced over 140 different products in a variety of sizes and flavours.[6]

On May 8, 2012, Ultima and Yoplait announced they were restructuring their relationship. As of September 1, 2012, General Mills (the brand's longtime United States licensee, and since 2011 a 50% shareholder in the international Yoplait brand) has taken over as the Canadian licensee of the Yoplait brand. Ultima continues to produce Yoplait-branded products at its Granby, Quebec plant, but these products are now marketed and sold by General Mills.[7]

Simultaneously, Ultima Foods announced plans to begin producing and marketing its own brand of yogurt and fresh dairy products in Canada, starting in mid-August 2012, later revealed to be iögo (pronounced "yo-go").[2] The new product line is, according to Ultima, "entirely created and manufactured in Canada and [includes] a full and original line of products and flavours that suit the tastes of Canadian consumers."[8]

On August 31, 2017, Agropur and Agrifoods announced that they had concluded an agreement pursuant to which Agropur would become the sole owner of Ultima Foods, subject to regulatory approval.[1]

References
  1. Agropur (2017-08-31). "Agropur Acquires Agrifoods' Interest in Ultima Foods". Retrieved 2017-09-02.
  2. "Canadian Trade-mark Data: Application no. 1582273". Canadian Trade-marks Database. Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  3. Ultima Foods. "Company Profile" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  4. Agropur. "The logo's history". Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  5. Ultima Foods. "Ultima Story". Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  6. Olympic. "Olympic Products". Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  7. Yoplait SAS (2012-05-08). "Ultima and Yoplait resolve issues, successfully reach agreement". Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  8. Ultima Foods (2012-05-08). "Ultima Foods launches its own brand of yogurt in Canada and reaches an agreement with Yoplait". Retrieved 2012-08-11.


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