At a time when many bakers were reluctant to adopt new technology, believing it adversely affected the taste and quality of their bread,[6] Weston began introducing modern equipment to automate the baking process.

In October 1897, George Weston unveiled his "Model Bakery", Canada's largest and most modern bread factory, at the corner of Soho and Phoebe streets in Toronto.

While the Model Bakery established George Weston as Canada's biggest baker, he had already begun to move beyond bread into other lines of baked goods.

The Model Bakery became part of the assets of Canada Bread and a new Weston's Biscuit Factory went into production at the corner of Peter and Richmond streets in Toronto.

A letter from Garfield, from the trenches of war-torn France, in which he asked his father to hold on until his return home, convinced George Weston not to sell his business.

While in England as a young Canadian soldier, Garfield had toured the world-famous British biscuit factories and came away convinced that a similar product could be manufactured and successfully marketed in Canada.

A Weston's English Quality Biscuits factory was set up at Watertown, near Boston, Massachusetts, but after a series of missteps, that included a botched advertising campaign, the plant was closed.

In addition to a program of expansion, the profitability of George Weston Limited allowed it to establish a minimum weekly wage for its male employees in 1934.

The early 1930s saw Garfield Weston pursue an ambitious overseas venture designed not only to extend the commercial interests of the company but also expand desperately needed export markets for Canadian wheat.

[19] With modern equipment and facilities, along with a reduced product line of 40 items instead of 400, Garfield Weston dramatically lowered costs and began selling biscuits at half the price of the competition.

Moreover, Mr. Weston told the shareholders at the annual meeting on March 28 that when plans at present under way are complete, he will have bread and biscuit companies in every strategic centre of England, Scotland, Northern and Southern Ireland.

[20] Later that year, with operations still expanding, George Weston Limited offered its shareholders direct ownership in the overseas venture in a rights issue that transformed the British business into a separate commercial entity.

"[21] During World War II, George Weston Limited struggled to maintain production in light of shortages that included basic ingredients such as sugar.

By 1942, the company reported that Weston operations in Canada, the United States and Great Britain used over 15 million bushels of wheat a year and employed some 16 thousand workers.

[24] The war years also saw the company diversify beyond baking with the purchase of a controlling interest in Western Grocers Ltd., a wholesale food distributor with some 700 associated Red & White stores throughout the prairies.

[29] In 1966, Howardsgate Holdings, owners of Britain and Europe's largest operator of supermarkets, Fine Fare, was purchased from another Weston family business, DICOA,[30] before being sold back to Associated British Foods.

"[35] By the late early 1970s, the company's aggressive expansion and acquisitions strategy, which in the past had produced such remarkable growth, was showing signs of strain.

The appointment came at a time when Loblaws appeared all but bankrupt, with its share of the crucial Ontario market cut in half as a result of price wars among the major chains.

Toronto designer Don Watt introduced new wood panelling, big moveable display bins, and huge photos of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.

George Weston Limited next made a well publicized bid to acquire controlling interest in the Hudson's Bay Company, with its diverse array of retail, resource and real estate holdings, in 1979.

But as a bidding war ensued with the Ken Thomson and family, Galen Weston walked away from the process, noting that it would have cost "another $150 million to bump our offer up again" and had simply become too expensive.

The company's policy to own many of its properties, instead of simply leasing, gave it the "operating flexibility" to rent out redundant space and thereby mitigate losses.

Bestfood, with nineteen plants throughout the United States, included such well-known brands as Entenmann's, Thomas' English Muffins, and Arnold Bread.

[48] In 2006, chronic supply chain problems and the first year-end loss for Loblaw in almost two decades resulted in the resignation of John Lederer as president and W. Galen Weston as chairman.

While the Grupo Bimbo deal saw George Weston Limited divest most of its fresh baked goods assets in the United States, the company still maintained U.S. market share.

[51] In what press reports called "a surprise move," the company announced in late 2010 that it would pay a special dividend of $7.75 per share to stockholders, worth one billion dollars.

[57] The Canada Revenue Agency claimed "that a vice-president at Loblaws parent company George Weston Ltd. 'was unable or unwilling to answer many questions' during pre-trial discovery hearings, and later requested that CEO Galen Weston Jr. answer under oath "some of its pre-trial discovery questions about 'the purpose for which GBL was established and the activities of GBL during the years at issue.

'"[57] The result was that Loblaws was order by Associate Chief Justice Lucie Lamarre to pay back taxes on foreign accrual property income (FAPI) of $368 million.

The company appealed to Justice Judith Woods of the Federal Court of Appeal who reversed the Lamarre order when she found that Glenhuron "bought short-term U.S. debt securities, entered into swaps and managed investments on behalf of other companies related to Loblaw and its parent, George Weston Ltd., among other things — mostly did business at arm’s length with those it entered into contracts for the debt and swaps".

[60] In October 2021, the deal to sell Weston Foods' fresh and frozen bread business to FGF Brands Incorporated of North York, Ontario.