CANADA: Investing in Moose Jaw Pork Company

Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food's Agri-Food Equity Fund (AFEF) has invested $1 million in the World Wide Pork Company Ltd. of Moose Jaw.Agriculture and Food Minister Clay Serby made the announcement while touring the facility today."This investment is just another example of AFEF's work in promoting value-added diversification, economic growth and jobs in Saskatchewan's agri-food sector," Serby said. "Since its inception, the Agri-Food Equity Fund has approved investments in small and medium-sized Saskatchewan companies totalling more than $16 million." World Wide Pork specializes in hog slaughtering and specialty cuts for the Japanese and other Asian markets. The company employs over 150 workers and has been fully operational since May, when it was purchased from Tai-Wan Pork."We plan to expand our staff and capacity over the next year or two. Once full production is attained we expect to be slaughtering over 300,000 hogs annually which will be sourced primarily from the prairie provinces," World Wide Pork President Tom Cheng said.Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food established the Agri-Food Equity Fund in 1994. The Fund invests in viable agricultural value-added Saskatchewan businesses and co-operatives by purchasing equity, in addition to offering business advice for start-up or expansion.