Foothills Creamery has been serving up quality (and delicious) dairy products to Western Canadians for over 50 years. Originally focusing on butter back in 1969, Foothills Creamery expanded into ice cream in 1986 and they now produce yogurt, sherbert, soft serve, sorbet, non-dairy treats and ice cream cones for both the retail and wholesale market.
Based in Calgary, but with locations in Edmonton and Kelowna, Foothills Creamery has always stood for one thing above all others: quality.
Recently our President, Lisa Genovese, had the opportunity to speak with Foothills Creamery President Cathy Sanders about her journey from the quality control program, through to leading the Foothills team post-acquisition. You can listen to their full conversation below:
One of the things that struck us about both her, and the Foothills Creamery story, was the need to pivot your business when the time calls for it, and the perfect case in point was their acquisition of another Calgary brand, Screamin’ Brothers:
“The market was dictating a move to plant-based options, so while we were looking at formulating our own brand, we heard Screamin’ Brothers was for sale. They not only had a great story, but a great product, and it’s been great for us ever since.”
Foothills Creamery initially was only producing butter, however their move to making ice cream in the late 80’s is what really helped to grow their business into the multi-faceted producer it is today.
Meanwhile, Cathy’s career has followed the growth of the Creamery. Initially starting out in their lab, then taking on production and additional leadership roles as older management transitioned out, she found herself in a unique position when the company went up for sale to a private investment firm last year. Cathy is now the president of the company, and represents the dairy industry on a number of boards and groups.
What remains very clear is that Cathy’s roots in the lab and quality control program have translated into a leadership role committed to producing delicious, local food with a fascinating backstory that shares so many key ingredients with other Calgary success stories:
- A desire to grow
- A commitment to quality
- A strong tradition
- Rooted in agriculture
- Unafraid to pivot and shift
We congratulate Cathy and the Foothills team for being the definition of Evolutionary Leaders, and look forward to watching them grow in the years to come.
You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Do you know of a business that’s trying to change the game, take on the top players in the market and challenge the status quo? We’d love to feature them on our next Evolutionary Leaders Series. Drop us a line today to put us in the know!