Saskatchewan meat company Drake Meats Processors Inc. will be building a new meat processing facility in Saskatoon that is expected to employ 200 local people once fully operational.
The facility, designed by Mallot Creek Group, will be 53,000 sq. feet and include technology advancements such as a state-of-the-art tempering room, an automated bacon line, an automated injection system and natural gas smokehouses.
To support construction of the facility, the company will be use senior debt financing with Farm Credit Canada and equity proceeds from an investment group led by the Golden Opportunities Fund.
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“The construction of our new facility is a tremendous milestone in the growth story of Drake,” chief executive officer Kelly Ediger said in the May 20 announcement.
Ediger and his family have owned and operated the company for four generations since it was was founded in 1949.
With the facility, Drake Meats will increase its annual production capacity by approximately eight million kilograms and increase the company’s demand and purchases of Canadian pork and beef, the primary ingredients in its products of sausage, jerky, and deli meats.
These meat products and others, such as bacon and ham, can be found in grocery stores across Western Canada.
