105-year-old Manitoba creamery enters new era with new owner

A Manitoba family is working to give a 105-year-old creamery in Notre-Dame-De-Lourdes a new burst of life. Harrison Shin has more.

A 105‑year‑old creamery in southern Manitoba is entering a new chapter as its owner moves ahead with plans to expand the historic butter‑making operation.

Notre Dame Creamery, first built in 1921 by St. Boniface Dairy in Notre Dame de Lourdes, Man., has long been a fixture in the community. Over the decades, the plant passed through several owners, including Bothwell Cheese and Gay Lea.

The creamery is now run by Joseph Chaeban, a Lebanese Manitoban and second‑generation dairy scientist who bought the facility from Gay Lea.

“When I heard the news (that it was sold to Gay Lea), I reached out to Gay Lea, asking them if they wanted to sell Notre Dame Creamery because I knew that Gay Lea already makes butter and they have a few plants across the country,” Chaeban said.

“They were actually so excited to sell me the plant because this is a churned butter — it’s more of a premium butter and it wasn’t aligned with what they wanted to do with the plant.”

Chaeban said he has been collaborating with the company and kept the creamery alive.

“They wanted to keep it going because they are a cooperative, and they didn’t want to see it closed down because a lot of history is here.”

‘They make a wonderful product there’

Gordon Goldsborough, acting executive director of the Manitoba Historical Society, said the plant remains one of the last small‑town creameries still operating in the province.

“To my understanding, it is — if not the last small‑town creamery in Manitoba — it is among the very last,” he said.

“I have to say — they make a wonderful product there. I’ve had some of their butter and it’s magnificent … Julia Child, the very famous American chef — she was known for her French cuisine and one time they asked her, ‘What are the three secrets to French cooking?’

“She said those three secrets are butter, butter and butter … the stuff they make in Notre Dame — top quality.”

Goldsborough said with many things coming to an end due to time, he is glad to hear that the creamery is still in operation.

“Think, for example, about the Trappist Cheese that used to be made in rural Manitoba. For a number of years, the monks at the monastery made their cheese and unfortunately that has come to an end.

“That’s the nature of things — typically, these small-town operations give way to the mass-produced commercial operations in big cities.”

A full circle of hospitality

Chaeban continues to make churned salted and unsalted butter with a team of about 10 employees hired from the surrounding area.

Among them is Bernard Bosc — also known as Barney the Butterman — who has worked at the creamery for 17 years. He said customers consistently tell him the creamery’s product stands out.

“Every person that comes in says the same thing,” Bosc said. “‘That’s the best butter in Manitoba!’ (Then) you do the old tap on the shoulder and keep with the recipe you were told to follow.”

Chaeban said the community welcomed his family when they took over the operation. His wife is a Syrian refugee who settled in Canada with the help of the South Osborne Syrian Refugee Initiative.

Chaeban said with their help, they brought 13 family members of his wife and raised over $150,000.

“I was way overwhelmed with the response and the new friends we gathered in such a short period of time—I’m like, ‘All these Manitobans are angels, because who does that for another human?’”

That was the motivator for Chaeban to start his own business.

“We definitely want to give back to the community for all they have done for us.”

Now, the heartwarming vision continues at Notre Dame de Lourdes.

“The vision for the creamery is to employ more employees here and the surrounding areas because we want to expand our product line … we’re getting equipment to come in to help us scale up,” he said.

Chaeban said his wife now makes all flavours in his ice cream shop in Winnipeg, Chaeban Ice Cream.

“I really want to thank my wife, Zainab … and I also want to thank my partner Darryl — without them, we would not have gotten here. God bless you guys.”