“’Tis the set of the sails and not the gales that determines the way they go”. This was the motto, taken from an Ella Wheeler Wilcox poem, which Garfield Weston lived by, meeting the challenges of life with boundless energy and indestructible optimism.

Willard Garfield Weston was born above his father’s Toronto bakery in 1898, the eldest son of George and Emma Weston. As a young man, he worked in his father’s biscuit factory.

An idealist, Garfield was eager to do his part in the First World War so enlisted at eighteen with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. Stationed in France, he helped drive a six-horse wagon laying telegraph cables for battlefield communications. He spent his army leaves visiting English bakeries to learn more about the business in which he grew up and would join upon his return home.

Joining the Family Business

At the end of the war, Garfield returned to Toronto and at twenty-one joined the small family company, George Weston Limited. He convinced his father to import biscuit making equipment from England and successfully launched Weston’s English Quality Biscuits.

Only twenty-six years old when his father died in 1924, Garfield became president and general manager of George Weston Limited.  By purchasing smaller bakeries in Canada and the United States, this young man soon managed to grow the business. In 1935, he expanded the business to Britain, later moving into Australia, South Africa and Europe.

Committed to Canada

Throughout his life, Garfield remained passionately committed to Canada and its citizens.  During the Great Depression, he bought bankrupt Canadian bakeries that would otherwise likely have closed their doors, thus saving jobs.  He also came up with a plan to help the country’s prairie farmers, who were in desperate need of new markets for their crops with the collapse of wheat prices.  Garfield proposed buying British bakeries, modernizing them, and importing Canadian wheat to make a better British loaf of bread.  The venture was so successful that, with his formation of Allied Bakeries, he became known in the press as “Britain’s Bigger Baker”.

When Canadian troops stationed in England during World War II complained of boredom in their camps, Garfield donated 500 radios.  He also promoted the ‘Spitfire Fund’ with a personal contribution of £100,000 pounds to replace 16 fighter planes lost in the Battle of Britain. He and his wife kept open house for Canadian service men and women at their home outside of London.  At the end of war with Germany in 1945, Garfield returned home to Canada, convinced that his native land was entering an era of prosperity.

Helping Canada's Young People

With nine children of his own, Canada’s youth particularly interested Garfield. He and his wife Reta believed that young men and women could make Canada great by broadening their horizons with education and travel. For several years in the 1950s exchanges were organized for British and Canadian teenagers. In 1953, fifty Canadian girls traveled to London to watch Queen Elizabeth’s coronation.  Garfield said that “the days of adventure are not over, their outward appearance has only changed. There is still a challenge in this world for young Canadians to go out and bring honour to their homeland.”

Respect for the Environment

As one of his daughters Camilla Dalglish wrote, “I was born in Buckinghamshire just before the Second World War, the eighth of nine children of Garfield and Reta Weston. For my first seven years, I grew up in England in a home on the Thames River. Lord Davenport, his predecessor, had created a famous garden including the finest rock garden in England, a walled-kitchen garden, and a water garden. The house had magnificent views over the Thames River. Queen Mary decided to come and see the gardens in 1940, unfortunately we all had mumps and so she cancelled. These wonderful enriching years, left a lasting love of nature on myself and all my siblings.”

Garfield Weston upheld the belief that society has a responsibility to protect the environment. The E. B. Eddy Company, which he purchased in 1943, later became a model for sustainable development in the pulp and paper industry. The company was able to reduce pollution and therefore have a huge effect on the surrounding communities and aquatic ecosystems.

Expansion in the Pursuit of Excellence

When Garfield Weston took over as president of George Weston Limited, the company consisted of a biscuit plant and a bread bakery in Toronto. At the time of his death in 1978, the Weston operations included bakeries, dairies, grocery chains, forestry and fisheries with holdings on several continents. By setting his sails in the pursuit of excellence, Garfield had managed to become the world’s biggest baker and second biggest grocer.

On January 11, 1978 W. Garfield Weston was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In recognition of his significant contribution to Canada's economic prosperity, he was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation was established to continue his commitment to the people of Canada by supporting innovative community efforts. To find out more about initiatives that Garfield Weston supported please read the Foundation’s History of Giving.