Burnbrae Farms

Joseph Hudson, grandfather of Joe and Grant Hudson, came to Canada from Stranraer, Scotland in the late 1800s. In 1893, he purchased a farm in Lyn, Ontario and named it Burnbrae, "Burn" being a Scottish name for a stream and "Brae" a hillside. Since Burnbrae Farms has a creek, a waterfall and several hillsides sloping down to a valley, the name is very appropriate. The farm then consisted of 100 acres.

Joseph Arthur Hudson, Grant and Joe's father, inherited the farm in about 1922 and, together with his wife Evelyn, continued to expand the dairy herd of Ayrshire cattle that was already established. In 1939, Grant joined his father. The farm was expanded to 140 acres, much of which was farmed for cash crops and the dairy herd grew to about 30 head of milk cows. The milk was sold to one of the dairies in Brockville to be bottled and distributed.

Burnbrae evolved into an egg production farm through the efforts of Grant and Joe Hudson. In 1943, while still in high school, Joe became involved in a poultry school project at Brockville Collegiate Institute. He raised 50 leghorn chicks to laying hens. From 1943 to 1948, the egg layers were a side line managed by Joe and Grant, while Joe was in school. By the time Joe completed high school in 1948, the number of laying hens had increased to a respectable 3,000 layers, and the family worked together to care for the hens, milk cattle and cash crops.

As the poultry business grew, Grant, Joe and their father all became more directly involved. Eventually, the farm's main enterprise became poultry, although the dairy herd was kept and managed for many years. In 1952, the first laying barn was constructed. In 1956, the barn was expanded to hold 20,000 layers. Burnbrae began grading eggs to ship to Steinberg's in Montreal, the company's first large grocery chain store account.

The Lyn production operation has continued to expand over the years. The laying barns are now connected together by an in-line system whereby a conveyor belt carries the eggs from the barns to an egg processing facility where they are washed, packed and shipped to the stores.

In 1973, Burnbrae entered the "further processing" market by establishing a plant in Lyn to break, pasteurize and package eggs that are surplus to the table egg market and sold to the bakery, hotel, restaurant and industrial trade. The processed product business has grown to be a significant segment of Burnbrae's business. What began with rudimentary processing methods for selling frozen egg in pails has evolved into sophisticated systems for producing and marketing everything from basic whole egg in pails and tankers to long shelf life liquid egg sold in a carton similar to a milk carton. The latter product is made at Les Oeufs Bec-O Inc., a company affiliate located in Upton, Quebec, outside St. Hyacinthe. Burnbrae acquired the Bec-O facility in 1983.

In 1974, the company purchased land in St. Zotique, Quebec, just across the Ontario border, on which was constructed the operation known as Ferme St. Zotique Ltée. Ferme St. Zotique also utilizes an in-line system whereby the grading station grades eggs from the laying hens on the farm. Like the Lyn operation, it also purchases and grades eggs from outside producers. Ferme St. Zotique is one of the larger grading stations in Canada in terms of volume of eggs processed each week. It serves markets all over the province of Quebec and in eastern Ontario, near the Quebec border.

The Quebec operations continued to grow and evolve, opportunities in western Ontario appeared. In 1978, Burnbrae purchased Maple Lynn Foods Limited. Maple Lynn is located outside of London, Ontario in Strathroy. It operates a grading station which purchases, grades and markets eggs from many producers in the area. In 1981, Burnbrae Farms in Mississauga joined the group. Visitors to Burnbrae Farms sometimes wonder where the chickens are, given that it is located in an industrial park in the middle of the city! However, like Maple Lynn, the eggs are purchased for grading and distribution from producers in the western Ontario farm belt.

In late 1996 and early 1997 Burnbrae Farms expanded its operation into Manitoba with the purchase of a grading station and a further processing plant. In October of 2001, Burnbrae Farms added a grading station in Calgary, Alberta to its group of companies. At Burnbrae Farms Winnipeg and Calgary, eggs are collected from local egg farmers, graded and delivered to stores from North Western Ontario (Thunder Bay) to B.C. Eggs are also further processed at Burnbrae's processing facility in Winnipeg and delivered as far west as British Columbia. For the first time Burnbrae Farms can now claim that it does egg business in all provinces!

In 2006, Burnbrae Farms acquired the manufacturing rights to a premium omelette line and set up a new facility in Brockville, Ontario dedicated to the production of cooked items like omelettes, hard boiled eggs and other egg products.

Burnbrae Farms has proven itself as a leader in Canadian agri-business through its award winning new product innovation. Five years in a row it was nominated for a Canadian Grand Prix New Product Award. This is a prestigious honour granted by the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors and Canadian Grocer Magazine. New products go through rigorous testing and screening before being even considered for a Grand Prix. To win not only one, but 4 Grand Prix's puts Burnbrae in an elite class of Canadian food companies. Grand Prix products include Naturegg Omega 3 (winner 1997), Naturegg Simply Egg Whites (nominated 1998), Naturegg Break-Free (winner in 2 categories 1999 including All-Canadian new product of the year) and Naturegg Omega Pro (now Break-Free Omega 3) (winner 2000), Hard Boiled Eggs (nominated 2003), Prestige Ultra Omega 3 (winner of North Amercian Food Service Award 2005) and Egg Creations (winner 2005).

Burnbrae's products also carry the distinction of having been accepted into the Heart and Stroke Health Check program. Only products considered to promote good health and general nutrition can carry the Health Check logo.

In keeping with its history as a cattle farm, in 1978, Burnbrae purchased its first two Aberdeen Angus cows. Today, it has a championship herd of in excess of 30 head. At the 1995 Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, Burnbrae's entries won four first place ribbons as well as three championships. Burnbrae's herd is well known for the quality of its breeding stock. It is ably-managed by Donald Fraser and Joe Hudson.

Presently, Burnbrae Farms is a thriving participant in Canadian agribusiness— selling eggs and egg products to many of the major grocery chains, food service operations and large bakery customers throughout Canada and the U.S.A. It continues to be privately owned and operated by the Hudson family.