Maple Leaf Foods closes wiener production plant

The Maple Leaf Foods wiener production facility on Brockley Road in Hamilton, Ontario, has been closed. The company announced on April 17 it has transferred production to its new Maple Leaf Foods prepared meats facility in Hamilton.
"We are in the final phase of completing a transformation of our prepared meats network," said Michael H. McCain, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods. "We have established world-class facilities and technologies to step-change our profitability and competitiveness. This year, the focus is on shifting production to these new facilities, closing legacy plants, and realizing related cost and productivity gains. We are doing this in a way that is respectful of our people and provides them ongoing employment opportunities wherever possible. A low-cost, highly efficient network will provide a strong platform for growth and support Canada's broader agrifood sector."
Maple Leaf has produced wieners at the leased Maple Leaf Foods Brockley Road plant since 1994. Approximately 88 percent of the plant's workforce of 213 people has been provided employment at the new Heritage facility in Hamilton. The new jobs provide these people with opportunities to advance their skills in a high technology environment.
To date, the commissioning of the Heritage facility has been successful and on schedule. The company is focused on transferring production from four other plants over the remainder of 2014, which will subsequently close, and continuing to ramp up both wiener and sliced meats production at the new facility. It will be among the largest and most technologically advantaged plants of its kind in North America.