China investors fuel Brussels Beef Feasibility Plan

A request for information from interested Chinese investors has led to a US$5,000 update of the Brussels Beef Feasibility Plan.

Huron East councillors learned at their September 21 meeting that the economic development committee discussed to need to update the market figures in the 2006 proposal to bring cattle prices, beef prices and building costs to 2010 levels in response to recent interest in the possibility of a beef plant in Brussels.

"The interest came as an entire surprise. I thought we had put that project to bed," said Paul Nichol, manager of the Huron Development Business Corporation. He received a call from a representative of the Chinese business community looking for opportunities for multi-million dollar investments in Southwestern Ontario.

"The beef plant immediately came to mind and they said it looks very interesting. These are serious investors," he said. The original proposal for a US$35-million beef plant in Brussels aimed at marketing beef outside of Canada into the Asian Pacific market.

"We knew there should be a growing demand and that we needed some investor ownership from China, Taiwan or Hong Kong so they would have an interest in the plant and have access to the distribution network and retail chains, an expertise we didn't have," said Nichol.

He said the Chinese investors are planning a trip to Canada next month and a visit to Ottawa will include a look at opportunities in Ontario. "They're going to Alberta too so they might get a proposal for a beef plant there. There are no guarantees but we'd be kicking ourselves if we didn't do this," Nichol added.

Seed money of US$25,000 from Huron East council started researching the possibility of a beef plant in Brussels in 2005. Land was chosen behind the Brussels Stockyard and meetings were held about the possibility of a farmer-owned coop but the plan was put on the shelf after the federal government turned down a request for funding by the organisers in 2006. Organisers were also hopeful last year when the federal government announced it would put US$50 million into Canadian slaughterhouses.

Nichol said the latest interest by Chinese investors is "very promising" and he gives kudos to the municipality for the groundwork done on the beef plant.