Drake Meats has announced plans to build a 53,000 square foot state-of-the-art meat processing facility in Saskatoon, Sask., capable of producing more than eight million kilograms of pork and beef products annually.
The family-owned consumer-packaged meat company, founded in 1949 as a co-operative meat locker in Drake, Saskatchewan, produces a vast line of products including sausage, bacon, hams, jerky and deli meats. The company’s products are offered in major grocery chains across Western Canada including Costco, Co-op, Loblaws, Walmart, Sobeys, Safeway and Save-On-Foods.
To construct the new facility, Drake has arranged senior debt financing with Farm Credit Canada and has raised equity proceeds from an investment group led by the Golden Opportunities Fund Inc., with participation from FCC Capital and a group of strategic local investors.
With the added production capacity, Drake will continue to meet the demand for its brand products across Canada, says a company release. The expansion is expected to create up to 200 new local jobs once fully operational and significantly increase Drake’s purchases of pork and beef from Canadian producers, the company says.
With the support of its new financial partners, Drake’s leadership team will be able to focus on continued growth, and the Ediger family will remain the majority owner of the company, says CEO Kelly Ediger.
“The construction of our new facility is a tremendous milestone in the growth story of Drake. We are passionate about our craft and sharing it with others, and we are excited to partner with FCC Capital and local capital partners like Golden who have a long-standing record of successfully growing companies,” says Ediger.
