Update, as of Nov. 9: Maple Leaf Foods says it is implementing workarounds to maintain operations at its plants while a team of cybersecurity experts continues to work on resolving the “comprehensive” outage caused by a cyberattack. CEO Michael McCain told investors in a quarterly earnings call on Nov. 8 that all the company’s plants… Read More
Tag: Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods has announced that by the end of 2021, it will complete transitioning all breeding sows in company-owned barns to its Advanced Open Sow Housing System. This system provides open housing during pregnancy that allows sows to roam, rest, feed, and socialize freely. This shift in sow housing makes Maple Leaf Foods a… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods says it has completed a $182 million expansion at its prepared meats plant in Winnipeg, Man., creating a “Bacon Centre of Excellence.” The 73,000 square-foot addition to the facility on Lagimodiere Boulevard will significantly increase the company’s capacity for making pre-cooked, microwaveable bacon. “We are very excited to see this project come… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods is announcing that it has reached an agreement to purchase four pig farms in central Saskatchewan from the Polar Pork group of companies. The acquisition will increase Maple Leaf Foods’ overall pig supply and production capacity, the company says. Subject to satisfaction of closing conditions, the purchase is expected to close in… Read More
The Maple Leaf Foods hog plant at Brandon, Man., has temporarily suspended pork exports to China on a voluntary basis. China has recently instituted new rules where any plant reporting COVID-19 cases is required to suspend exports. The Brandon plant has seen over 50 cases of COVID-19 among employees in the last few weeks, accounting… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods has named Nadia Theodore as senior vice president of global industry and government relations, effective October 13, 2020. Theodore steps in for Rory McAlpine, who will retire after 15 years with Maple Leaf Foods. Theodore currently serves as the Consul General of Canada to the southeast U.S., based at Atlanta, Georgia. Since… Read More
First quarter financial reports are starting to paint a clearer picture of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent government restrictions, have had on food demand. Restaurant sales — no surprise — have plummeted, and been replaced to a lesser extent by higher staple grocery sales. Tim Hortons, A&W, and McDonalds have all reported… Read More
This is an updated story Maple Leaf Foods has closed its Brampton poultry processing plant after a total of three staff members have now tested positive for COVID-19. Initially, the company had announced no closures after individual staff members had tested positive at two plants: the Brampton plant and the Heritage plant at Hamilton, Ont…. Read More
Some of Canada’s largest meat processing companies are publicly announcing their COVID-19 response measures in an effort to offer reassurance and transparency to the public and others in the food supply chain. While minimizing the human health risk associated with having a large number of employees working at a single facility is the primary concern,… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods has announced plans to spend $660 million to build a new, 640,000 square foot fresh poultry processing facility at London, Ont., and to invest in projects that “accelerate adoption of advanced manufacturing and production technologies.” Those investments support the company’s goal of reducing its environmental footprint by 50 per cent by 2025. The… Read More
Moving forward with its plan of having all sows in an open housing system, Maple Leaf Foods confirms as of now, 40,000 sows, or roughly 50 per cent of the herd, have moved over to the new system. When fully complete, Maple Leaf will become the first large-scale producer to have all of its female… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods (MLF) is spending $28 million to transitioning the company’s Edmonton poultry processing plant to a “world-class controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) technology facility.” The company plans to convert is transportation, receiving and holding area and handling systems to optimize rest time and create a climate-controlled environment as it implements the CAS technology, the… Read More
Years of financial and regulatory challenges have taken a toll on pork production in Manitoba, to the point where the province’s largest hog processing facility now needs around 175 new barns built to operate at full capacity, according to the company’s president and CEO. Speaking at the Manitoba Pork Council annual meeting in Winnipeg on… Read More
Canada’s Competition Bureau has approved the sale of Puratone Corporation to Maple Leaf Foods and Big Sky Farms to Olymel in a major step towards consolidation of Canada’s and especially Western Canada’s hog industry. The bureau said in a statement: “the Bureau concluded that the mergers were unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening or… Read More
The hog industry in Western Canada has been knocked to its knees in recent months by high feed prices and negative margins. A large hog breeder, producer and feed company — Manitoba-based Puratone Corporation — is in the process of being bought by Maple Leaf Foods, the company’s largest hog buyer. Amidst the fall out… Read More