A southern Ontario processing company tightening its focus on its ready-to-eat foods business has sold its fresh poultry processing plant to Maple Lodge Farms.
Grand River Foods of Cambridge, Ont. announced it has sold its fresh poultry operations at Beamsville, about 20 km west of St. Catharines, to Brampton, Ont.-based Maple Lodge for an undisclosed sum.
The companies said the deal "further focuses each company’s operations on their respective strengths in prepared food production and primary processing."
The deal, scheduled to take effect last Thursday, also includes a supply deal for Maple Lodge to provide fresh, processed chicken for the prepared food products Grand River makes at its Cambridge plant.
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"Our intention is to reinvest in our operations, funding growth and development of our ready-to-eat, prepared foods division, which produces over 200 chicken protein products for the North American foodservice and retail segments," Grand River president Craig Richardson said in a release.
Grand River in July picked up rural economic development funding, worth a reported $1 million, from the provincial government to buy and install new processing equipment at Cambridge. That equipment is expected to boost the Cambridge plant’s production by 25 per cent, creating 20 additional jobs.
"Obligations"
The two companies noted in their release that Chicken Farmers of Ontario has already granted regulatory approval for the transfer.
Conditions to benefit Ontario producers who shipped chickens to the Grand River plant are written into the deal, the companies said.
"It was very important to us that the processing business remain in Ontario," Richardson said. "We have every confidence that a respected company like Maple Lodge Farms will conduct business in a similar manner, honouring the relationships and contractual obligations with our valued growers."
Maple Lodge already operates primary processing plants at Brampton, Ont. and St-Francois-de-Madawaska, N.B., plus further-processing facilities at Brampton, Mississauga and Etobicoke, Ont.
Maple Lodge CEO Michael Burrows said the deal "is consistent with our long-term plans and reaffirms our commitment to the chicken processing industry in Ontario."
Maple Lodge said it aims to "scale up" its primary processing to serve its customer base in the retail, foodservice and further-processed sectors among others.
