Gay Lea Foods is tapping into the lure of Toronto’s swankest new mixed-use space by activating its “Share Joy by Gay Lea” pop-up experience at The Well.

Toronto-based Chalkboard Marketing designed and set up the family-targeted exhibition, which will be available on the upper ground floor of The Well’s retail area from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31. The Well, located in downtown Toronto, had its grand opening on Nov. 17, 2023. 

“Share Joy by Gay Lea” offers passersby a walk-in holiday experience featuring larger-than-life baking utensils, an eight-foot plush gingerbread and an oversized cake topped with sprinkles. Gay Lea is also offering chocolate and cookie samples to visitors, as well as the chance to sign up for cake decorating sessions with Is it Cake? season one finalist April Julian. 

Gay Lea is also promoting a partnership with charity Food4Kids (which provides healthy food packages to elementary school kids) that will see it contribute $1 for every photo of the exhibition posted on social media. The experience will be promoted on Gay Lea’s Instagram.

The dairy cooperative is reopening “Share Joy by Gay Lea” after launching it in December last year in Mississauga’s Square One Shopping Centre along with Chalkboard Marketing.

The exhibition is an activation of the company’s “Share Joy” campaign, developed by Toronto-based Blackjet. It promotes its butter, sour cream, and whipped cream product lines with a theme of sharing the joy of food. 

The campaign launched in November 2022 through digital and traditional channels. The creative dramatizes the ups and downs, as well the emotional rewards, of home baking.

Gay Lea Foods is a Canadian dairy cooperative with members on approximately 1,400 dairy farms in Ontario and Manitoba. This week, it named former Keurig Dr Pepper Canada VP of marketing, Tebbie Chuchla, as the new business unit director for cheese. Chuchla will be responsible for brand marketing, innovation and research planning for the company across brands such as Canada Dry and McCafé.