Olymel management has announced today (Sept 10) the start of a second slaughter shift at its newly renovated hog slaughtering, cutting, and boning plant at Ange-Gardien, Montérégie (formerly Agromex – F. Ménard).
The addition and $3 million investment has created 150 new jobs so far, bringing the number of employees over the 700 mark, with 100 additional positions expected to be filled in the coming months.
The renovation work, announced last February, was completed on schedule says the company. Improvements include the addition of refrigeration space and freezing capacity, the expansion of the cafeteria and parking areas, and the upgrading of wastewater treatment equipment.
The plant’s weekly slaughter capacity will increase from 25,000 to 35,000 hogs in the coming weeks. This increase in slaughter volume should also help improve the backlog of hogs awaiting slaughter, whose numbers have reached an unprecedented level in Quebec.
Réjean Nadeau, president and CEO of Olymel says that the increase in slaughter capacity fulgils the development goals Olymel set when it acquired F. Ménard.
“This investment will also allow our company to increase its production of value-added products, such as chilled pork, a product that is particularly popular in the Japanese market that the Ange-Gardien plant already serves, in addition to the domestic market,” says Nadeau. “In a difficult period, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, this increase in activity will generate optimism and positive economic spin-offs for the entire Montérégie region. I would like to salute the collaboration of the Agromex workers’ union represented by the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD) for their openness and collaboration throughout the development of this growth project.”
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