Gay Hahn, CEO, Avalon Dairies
by TIM CRUMLEY
Hard work doesn’t scare Gay Hahn—although it has helped guide her choices. Originally, she worked as an egg grader and driver at Avalon Dairies. In 1980, she landed a job in the office and hasn’t looked back. “I didn’t want to drive a truck for the rest of my life,” she said.
Her hard work has paid off. Hahn is now CEO of Avalon, the only independent dairy in the Lower Mainland, and a pioneer in bringing organic milk to B.C. stores and abroad.
Hahn heard community concerns about milk in the ’90s and quickly changed course. In the past seven years, Avalon has converted 60 per cent of its production to organic. “We even got some (calls) saying, ‘My babies are growing breasts. Are your cows being fed growth hormones and all that kind of stuff?’” Now, she says, “We can say no.”
In addition to full-time duties at Avalon, Hahn also sits on several industry committees and presides over many of them. In what’s left of her spare time, she is a director of Hockey Canada.
“Everybody says, ‘How can you do it?’ But I enjoy it. You’re on the go constantly and your body just kind of gets used to it,” Hahn says with a chuckle. “I just love to give back.”
“I have to be deathly ill not to come to work. I enjoy my job.”
Hahn tends her organic garden to keep a healthy home. “My body might not show it,” she laughs. “I think it’s old age. But I support organics 100 per cent.”
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