(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf dishes up first-quarter profit

Reuters — Canadian meat processor Maple Leaf Foods reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by higher earnings in its prepared meats business. Adjusted operating earnings in the meat products segment rose nearly eight-fold to $61.3 million in the Toronto company’s first quarter, helped by lower operating costs and price increases. The company, whose brands include

(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf to cut 400 middle-management jobs

Reuters — Maple Leaf Foods said Wednesday it would cut 400 management jobs, or about three per cent of its workforce, saying it was ready to streamline operations after starting up Canada’s biggest meat plant. Maple Leaf, one of the country’s biggest pork processors, said the majority of the job cuts would be completed by


Michael McCain speaking to reporters

McCain CEO says Brandon pork facility needs more hogs, workers

Changes in the temporary foreign worker program will have an impact on Brandon’s hog-processing plant

Manitoba’s hog production is not in line with its production capacity. That was the message brought to the Manitoba Pork Council by Maple Leaf Foods president and CEO Michael McCain last week. Speaking to members of the pork industry at the council’s annual general meeting in Winnipeg, the business leader said now is the time

(Dave Bedard photo)

Staff, hog shortages leave Canada’s pork industry squealing

Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Shortages of hogs and packing plant workers in Canada, exacerbated by recent government restrictions, may severely cut hog processing and pork exports, helping to keep North American retail pork prices near record highs. Farmers in Canada, the world’s third-biggest pork shipper, are also bracing for the spread of a deadly virus