New Brantford food processing plant will buy local fruit and vegetables

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

by MATT MCINTOSH

A new market for locally grown fruits and vegetables is coming to Ontario.

California-based Misionero Vegetables will locate a new produce processing facility in Brantford.

The plant will make organic and conventional brand salads for retail and foodservice markets and is scheduled to start production at by the end of this year.

“The Misionero plant is going to use produce from the surrounding regions, and produce from California during our off season,” says John Frabotta, Brantford’s director of tourism and economic development.

In a joint press release published by the company and the City of Brantford, Hugh Bowman, president of Misionero’s Canadian operations, says the Brantford location is ideal because of its close proximity to the company’s northeastern markets.

Bowman also cites the region’s high quality fruits and vegetables as another deciding factor.

Larry Davis, a Brant County farmer and long-time regional director for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, is confident that surrounding farms will serve the plant well.

“This region produces very high value products. We can compete with anybody, and it’s another opportunity for farmers to do business,” he says.

The press release also says the new plant will hire 70 employees for the first operational year. By the end of the second year, the number of employees should increase to 130.

“It should be pretty good economically,” says Davis. “It’s a processing plant, and it will need other things like salt and sugar; that could open some other doors as well.” BF