Maple Leaf Foods has found a buyer for a site in Nova Scotia that it was planning to close by the end of the month.
The Canadian food maker said on Friday (1 April) that it had struck a deal to sell the assets of the plant in Berwick, Nova Scotia, to poultry venture Eden Valley Poultry.
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“We are very pleased to have reached this agreement that will result in the plant being converted into a new poultry primary processing facility,” said Rick Young, executive vice president for transformation for Maple Leaf’s Maple Leaf Consumer Foods arm.
“This is a very positive outcome which will bring new opportunities for people currently employed at Berwick and the community of King’s County. It also fulfils the commitment we made last November to find an alternate use for the plant that would leverage the benefits of the existing facility.”
In November, Maple Leaf announced that it would close the site by the end of April. The move comes as Maple Leaf looks to streamline its operations to boost efficiency and margins.
Eden Valley Poultry, a venture between United Poultry Producers – which represents poultry producers in Nova Scotia – and privately-owned processor Maple Lodge Holding – is expected to have the site up and running by the summer of next year.
The new poultry processing facility will process over 40m kilograms of poultry annually, Maple Leaf said. When it opens, the new facility will employ around 200 people.
