Discover our story
1800's
1900's
2000's
The founding of the rice company
Dainty was founded as Mount Royal Rice Mills at 5120 St. Patrick street along the Lachine canal in Montreal in 1882. The founder, Robert Reford, had previously established a ship agency business, the Robert Reford Company Limited, in 1866. The rice milling facility was eventually moved to Windsor, Ontario in 1967, when the City of Montreal closed the head race on the canal and the water powered mill was no longer feasible.
Canadian expansion
1892 the Company expands to Victoria on Vancouver Island and establishes the Victoria Roller Flour and Rice mill. The building exists today on the Victoria waterfront. The clipper ship Thermopylae was purchased and operated to carry rice from the Far East to the West Coast in the 1890s.
The Dainty brand
The DAINTY Brand was created for the “post-war consumer”. Following WW2 there was an emergence of large food companies in North America offering consumer packaged goods, quickly creating competition and a necessity for branding and marketing on the part of manufacturers.
Canadian. Unique. Authentic.
RICE IN A CAN by Dainty has been in production since 1947. 60+ years later it remains just cooked rice. Pure, simple, quick and easy; an ICON.
Building of facility in windsor, ontario
A new facility was built in Windsor and remains home to the Dainty brand and Canada’s only rice mill to this day.
Dainty cookbooks
Jehane Benoit, a well-loved pioneer of modern cookery from Montreal, was a Dainty ambassador for over 2 decades, writing several little cookbooks of Dainty rice recipes during the 1960s and ’70s.
Dainty brand refresh
Loyal to its origins, Dainty’s revitalized brand solidly acknowledges the components of its history. Our contemporary new look and colour projects the humble, approachable and proud rice company that we are. Our values remain and we promise to continue to be innovative and seek out new heights in all that we do to provide top quality product to you.
Dainty packaging
Dainty’s new compact packaging provides consumers with simple, easy steps to prepare a wide variety of rices and the Dainty products become Non-GMO Certified.
The dainty rice cooker
A Dainty rice cooker, simplest way to perfect rice.
See the online DAINTY SHOP to order one, and for inspiration visit our RECIPES page.
Recyclable is good, recycled is better!
In 2021 Dainty introduced packaging made from 25% post-consumer recycled material.
Dainty is committed to helping close the plastic recycling loop, and will continue to innovate on the packaging around all our products.
140th birthday
Dainty Foods, Canada’s rice brand and singular rice miller, proudly celebrates 140 years.
Debut; rice flour based baking mixes
Dainty introduces Gluten Free Baking mixes and a Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. Simple to assemble, with clean ingredients, they can be oven ready in minutes.