MISSISSAUGA, ON, Oct. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
(TSX: MFI) ("Maple Leaf" or the "Company") today announced that it
has completed construction of a $182
million expansion to its Winnipeg prepared meats plant, significantly
increasing its bacon production capacity with new in-house capacity
for pre-cooked, microwaveable bacon.
This investment in new state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment
and cultivated in-house expertise represents a Bacon Centre of
Excellence within Maple Leaf and positions the company to meet the
growing customer and consumer demand in the pre-cooked bacon market
and drive innovation. The project is one of the many
investments the Company has been making as it continues to unlock
value in its growing prepared meats business.
Final commissioning of the 73,000 square-foot expansion at the
Lagimodiere Boulevard site in Winnipeg is expected to be
completed in the near term, with commercial production ramping up
over the course of the coming months. By building this
capacity in-house, this plant will become the Company's primary
pre-cooked bacon production facility. As part of the
expansion, the Company is in the process of adding approximately
350 new positions at the plant, bringing total plant employment to
over 1,900 people.
"We are very excited to see this project come to life," said
Michael H McCain, President and CEO. "Our vision to become the most
sustainable protein company on earth applies even to our very best
convenience food, which includes delicious pre-cooked bacon. This
state-of-the-art facility will deliver sustainably made cooked
bacon products from meat humanely raised and without antibiotics,
made by a carbon neutral company. We are really proud of this."
Maple Leaf Foods is a leading Canadian bacon producer with
eight brands in the Canadian market, and almost half of Canadian
households have purchased a Maple Leaf Foods bacon product in
2021.1
About Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
("Maple Leaf Foods") is a carbon neutral company with a vision to
be the most sustainable protein company on earth, responsibly
producing food products under leading brands including Maple
Leaf®, Maple Leaf Prime®, Maple Leaf Natural
Selections®, Schneiders®,
Schneiders® Country Naturals®,
Mina®, Greenfield Natural Meat Co.®,
Lightlife® and Field Roast™. Maple Leaf Foods employs
approximately 13,500 people and does business in Canada, the
U.S. and Asia. The company is headquartered
in Mississauga, Ontario, and
its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MFI).
Forward Looking Statements Disclaimer
This news release includes "forward-looking information" under
applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively,
"forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information is
typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "continue",
"estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "plan",
"intend", "believe", and similar words or expressions, including
the negatives or variations thereof. All forward-looking
information reflects Maple Leaf Foods' beliefs and assumptions
based on information available at the time the applicable
forward-information is made and in light of its current
expectations.
Forward-looking information does not guarantee future
performance. Management believes that its assumptions and
expectations reflected in the forward-looking information contained
herein are reasonable based on the information available on the
date such information is provided and the process used to prepare
the information. However, Maple Leaf Foods cannot provide assurance
that these expectations will prove to be correct. All
forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results,
events, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially
from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Readers
should not unduly rely on forward-looking information and are
cautioned that the forward-looking information contained herein may
not be appropriate for other purposes. Unless required by law,
Maple Leaf Foods does not assume any obligation to update any
forward-looking information. All forward-looking information
contained herein is expressly qualified by this cautionary
statement. Further information about the factors affecting
forward-looking information and management's assumptions and
analysis thereof, is available in filings made by Maple Leaf Foods
with Canadian securities commissions available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com
__________________
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1 Numerator Insights Shopper Metrics
Total Corp MLF Total Bacon purchased at any store during the
01/0/2021 to 9/12/2021
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SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc.