The specialty meats provider plans to create up to 40 jobs in the North Bay area via the investment. Facilitated through the economic development organization for Northern Ontario FedNor’s Regional Economic Growth Through Innovation scheme, $1m will be made available as a repayable loan while the other $1.4m comes from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. It will be used to build a 15,000ft2 federally-licensed meat processing and cold storage facility at the North Bay Airport Industry Business Park.
Once completed, the company’s new facility will feature a specialty blast freezer with smart technology designed to reduce freezing times and enhance product quality. The new freezing system will also increase product shelf life and help CMG increase sales by capitalizing on the increasing demand for high-quality specialty meats such as Kosher and Halal products in Canada, the Middle East and Asia.
Oleksandr Zahrebelnyi, president of the Canada Meat Group, outlined target markets for the business. “We would like to thank the Government of Canada for helping us grow our business and increase exports to overseas markets, where demand for specialty meat such as Halal is at an all-time high. In the next few years our goal is to have our products available for purchase across the Middle East, Asia, South Korea and Japan.”
Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Minister responsible for FedNor added: “Our government is investing in Canadian start-ups to help them scale-up and become more competitive so they can expand domestically and into international markets. Today’s investment will allow Canada Meat Group to export its products across Canada, Asia and the Middle East to meet the growing demand for specialty meats.”