Ontario packer readies for major expansion

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

by GEOFF DALE

A $1.5-million federal investment in Holly Park Meat Packers comes just as the company prepares to serve larger retail markets.

The packer does about $35-million in business annually at its plants in Cookstown and Bolton, and specializes in beef, veal and lamb. The money, announced April 8, comes from the federal government’s $50-million slaughter improvement program.

It’s the first time the company has received federal funding since established in 1979, says company president Tony Facciolo.

The funding announcement also comes six weeks before the packer is slated to receive federal processing registration. Government regulations only allow federally inspected plants to sell out of province or internationally.

Facciolo says qualifying for federal registration will help him pursue sales to other customers that currently don’t buy provincially approved products.

Ruth Gilmour, communications coordinator for the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency, says the addition of another federally inspected packer will allow the “fast growing” sheep industry to grow even more. The industry currently only meets about 40 per cent of its market potential, she adds.

“This is excellent news for Holly Park’s two plants because being federally inspected will allow the company to sell to other places like Zehrs and the larger chains that insist on dealing with federally inspected plants,” she says. “It’s also good news for abattoirs which have been suffering as of late.”

Jennifer Haley, executive director of the Ontario Veal Association, says the company changes will “open up more avenues for us and also help us gain access to retailers in Ontario and across Canada we didn’t have access to before.” The packer is one of the province’s largest veal processors, she says.

Lianne Appleby, communications manager for the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association says anything that helps packers to better service the cattle industry “is going to be a good thing for us so we are supportive.”

Holly Park Meat Packers is one of Ontario’s largest provincially inspected meat processing facilities. It employs about 100 people in its two plants. The federal money will finance a facility redesign and the purchase and installation of new equipment and technology.

The investment will double the annual operational efficiency and help to increase future volume growth.

“As we get busier, employment numbers should go up because we will be more efficient,” Facciolo says. “We have put a new kill floor in, a new boning line in Cookstown and done quite a bit of major work overall.”

The funding marks the second investment for an Ontario packer under the federal program. The first – more than $2 million to Conestoga Meat Packers in Breslau – was announced in December 2008. The money was to be used for facility renovation, the processing of value-added products and the generation of new markets.

The other announcements to date include:

•    $9.6-million to Levinoff-Colbex in Québec, October, 2009
•    Up to $10-million in conditional loans to Keystone Processors Ltd. in Manitoba, November, 2009
•    A loan up to $2.7-million to Écolait in Québec, January 2010 BF