Maple Leaf closes Brockley Road wiener plant

Maple Leaf Foods has now closed its wiener production facility on Brockley Road, Hamilton, with production now transferred to its new prepared meats facility in Hamilton.

The Canadian food processing giant is in the final stages of completing the transformation of its prepared meats network.

Michael H McCain, president and chief executive, said: "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 realising 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."

The firm has produced wieners at the Brockley Road site since 1994, with around 88% of its workforce (213 people) being given employment at the new facility.

Production will be transferred from four of its other plants over the remainder of this year, it said.

Following completion of the installation, Maple Leaf Foods’ Hamilton plant will have the capacity to produce 82 million kilograms of deli products annually.

Last month GlobalMeatNews reported that a CA$5m investment package had been awarded to Maple Leaf Foods in order to purchase and install new meat processing technology.