Federal money to help Maple Leaf renovate hog plant

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Published: March 9, 2012

A federal investment of $4.5 million will help Maple Leaf Foods upgrade its 13-year-old hog plant in Brandon.

The investment, announced this morning, will go toward several improvements at the plant, including the purchase and installation of new line processing machinery, packaging equipment and heat recovery technology.

“Upgrades to its Manitoba facilities will help Maple Leaf boost productivity and production capacity to fill new market opportunities, which in turn will increase the demand for producers’ high-quality swine,” said Vic Toews, minister of public safety and regional minister for Manitoba.

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The announcement follows a decision last fall by Maple Leaf Foods to invest $85 million to upgrade its plant in St. Boniface, an industrial area in southeast Winnipeg.

“Maple Leaf Foods’ total employment in Manitoba will soon grow to approximately 4,000. Our Brandon and Winnipeg plants are vital to a healthy hog and production sector in the province,” said Doug Dodds, chief strategy officer at Maple Leaf Foods.

“We appreciate the support from the Government of Canada, and we are committed to making our plants in Brandon and Winnipeg as efficient and competitive in both the North American and export markets.”

About the author

Robert Arnason

Robert Arnason

Reporter

Robert Arnason is a reporter with The Western Producer and Glacier Farm Media. Since 2008, he has authored nearly 5,000 articles on anything and everything related to Canadian agriculture. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but Robert spent hundreds of days on his uncle’s cattle and grain farm in Manitoba. Robert started his journalism career in Winnipeg as a freelancer, then worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Fernie, BC. Robert has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in LSJF – Long Suffering Jets’ Fan.

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