Maple Leaf Foods upped the pork ante Jan. 27 by raising its premium for Alberta hogs from $11 each to $20 a head.
The Ontario-based firm created a stir in the province last week by offering premiums to capture as many of Alberta’s available hogs as possible. Last week the premium reached $11 for hogs shipped to Gainers Foods, an Edmonton plant it bought from Burns Foods last fall.
“We acquired Burns and Gainers 90 days ago and we’re committed to protecting our market share,” said Maple Leaf president Michael McCain in an interview from Toronto Monday. He wouldn’t say how far the company is willing to go with higher prices or contracts to capture supply.
Read Also
The Western Producer Livestock Report – August 28, 2025
Western Producer Livestock Report for August 28, 2025. See U.S. & Canadian hog prices, Canadian bison & lamb market data and sales insights.
Gainers is capable of killing 20,000 hogs in a five-day week on a single shift. So far, the plant has been able to process all hogs it has received. However, expansion is in the offing as Maple Leaf makes a move to be supreme in the Alberta industry.
“We’ve made no secret we plan to build a world class facility in western Canada. We need to ensure we protect our market share and supply of hogs,” he said.
“There’s a lot of opportunities. The plans for growing pork production and hog supplies exists all around North America. All parts of western Canada have strong prospects.”
Further, there’s no problem offering additional pork to the world market, he said.
Fletchers has reaffirmed it will meet its competitor’s premium.
For a pork producer, premiums for good hogs are exciting, but a free-for-all competition for hogs between Maple Leaf and Fletcher’s Fine Foods bears watching.
“We haven’t seen a battle like this in a long, long time,” said hog producer Roger Charbonneau, chair of the Alberta Pork Producers Development Corporation.
In the short term these premiums are lucrative for producers, but Charbonneau wouldn’t make any predictions about future effects as the province’s two processors fight over available hogs.
An additional $20 a head might entice many producers to ship to Gainers rather than Fletcher’s in Red Deer. Last week the pooled price for an 86 kilogram 100 index hog was $178.50.
Under Alberta’s new open market system, producers have the option of using the marketing division of the pork corporation or selling directly to a packer.
Comments from the marketing division of the hog board and Fletcher’s were unavailable.
