Canada’s Drake Meat Processors has secured financing from a local venture-capital fund to build a new plant, a project that will create 200 jobs.
Golden Opportunities Fund said it was joined in the capital injection by government-linked Farm Credit Canada Capital and other local “strategic” investors, although the size of the financing package was not disclosed.
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Family-owned Drake Meat Processors will use the cash to construct a new 53,000 square-foot meat processing facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
It will have the capacity to produce more than eight million kilograms of meat products a year to meet “the continued demand” in Canada, according to a statement. The company’s portfolio includes sausage, bacon, ham, jerky and deli meats.
Drake Meat Processors supplies retailers such as Costco, Co-op stores, Loblaws, Walmart and Sobeys.
The investment at the site will include a tempering room, an automated injection system, an automated bacon line, and natural gas smokehouses.
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By GlobalDataEstablished in 1949 as a meat co-operative in Drake, Saskatchewan, the fourth-generation business is owned by the Ediger family.
The Ediger family will continue to be a “major shareholder” in the company following the financing.
CEO Kelly Ediger said: “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.”
Drake’s products are made using “prime cuts” of pork and beef, “unique blends of spice” and natural hardwood smoke.
Golden Opportunities’ president and CEO Grant Kook said: “Our investment will support Drake’s growth initiatives, local job creation and capital investment here in the Saskatchewan economy at a time when supporting local is more important than ever.”
