New hatchery in Woodstock will open in 2017

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

Ontario-based chicken processor Sargent Farms has teamed up with the largest hatchery business in Quebec, Boire & Fréres Inc., to set up a new hatchery in Woodstock, with an initial production capacity of 20 million chicks a year.  

Kevin Thompson, Sargent Farms CEO, says they’ve just bought the land in an industrial park in Woodstock and the preliminary target date for the hatchery’s opening is late 2017.

“There is a lot of things to do but that’s our target at the moment,” he says.

Sargent Farms decided to join Boire & Fréres in establishing the new hatchery, to be called Thames River Hatchery, because “we felt it was a good opportunity to continue to grow our business and we felt there was a need in Ontario.”

This is the first time the Ontario processor has owned a hatchery.

Thompson says their Quebec-based partner has “extensive experience in the hatchery business and that was one of the reasons why we partnered with them. They bring that level of expertise.”

The two businesses are investing $10 million in the facility.

Chicken processor and producer Sargent Farms has headquarters in Milton and another facility in Mississauga. It’s custom chicken products are processed in accordance with traditional halal standards for the Muslim community and are sold to retailers, food service operations and restaurants.

Construction of the Thames River Hatchery is slated to start by the fall, according to the Sargent Farms press release. The facility will incorporate the latest hatchery technology and business practices.

Chicken Farmers of Ontario officials applaud the establishment of a new hatchery for Ontario. “It will further enable the quality service, flexibility and sustainability of the Ontario chicken supply,” president and CEO Rob Dougans says in a Chicken Farmers June 23 press release.

The family-owned and operated Boire & Fréres has more than 85 years of experience in the poultry industry in Quebec, the Sargent Farms release says. Its head office is in Wickham, Quebec. The business has hatching egg production, hatcheries for both broilers and commercial layers, egg production for both the pharmaceutical field and consumption and it raises chickens and turkeys. BF