© AgMedia Inc.
by BETTER FARMING STAFF
Conestoga Meat Packers and its 150 farm family shareholders got an early Christmas present this year, compliments of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.
A $2.3 million loan from the Slaughter Improvement Program will help the Progressive Pork Producers co-op pay for an addition to the Kitchener plant that lets it get more value from pork products, capture new markets and generate new revenue.
“We are pleased the government supports the food industry, says 3-P spokesman Bob Hunsberger. Pigs stomachs, for example, will be extracted and packaged for sale to markets in Asia.
Conestoga has been more than a kill and chill plant for some time, Hunsberger says. “We do a lot of value-added work.” There has been a project under way to expand the plant for more than a year.
Hog slaughter will stay the same.
The loan is good for the business and the shareholders, Hunsberger says, and also for employment. Agriculture Canada says Conestoga’s staff totals about 350. The expansion adds about 25 jobs.
An Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada press release says the red meat industry is the largest single employer in Canada. BF
