December 5, 2006

 

Canadian pork plant bets on organic and Omega-3 pork after takeover 

 

 

Garden Province Meats is off to a good start since new management took over more than a month ago and has increased production by 15 percent.

 

The new company aims to put out more natural, Omega 3 and organic meat cuts for niche markets while maintaining current chill and kill sales.

That direction earned a glowing report from the Canadian Pork Market Review at the University of Guelph, which said P.E.I. was "the most hopeful place" for hog production in Canada.

 

The plant is having the highest weekly volume so far in 2006, said Scott Dingwell, president of P.E.I. Pork Plus and one of the partners in the new venture that took over the plant.

 

Production is going so smoothly the company has had to bring pigs in from Quebec to top up pig numbers. 

 

Garden Province was taken over by P.E.I. Pork Plus and Mario Maillet of Natural and Organic Food Group Inc.

 

The plant, which had focused entirely on commodity market sales, was deep in the red late last summer and risked being shut down. Former owners Maple Leaf Foods divested themselves of the enterprise and the sole remaining shareholder, the P.E.I. Hog Commodity Board, chose a private interest sale.

 

The plant needs to be operated at full capacity to reduce costs and since there was a surplus in pig numbers in Quebec, the company arranged to ship those pigs to the P.E.I plant, the new owners said.

 

The pigs are being processed on Fridays only and importation is co-ordinated through the provincial import regulations.

 

Dingwell said the new owners had to negotiate commitments to P.E.I. producers as part of the purchase.

 

The company is very confident in the changes is making and is planning to roll out new brands for Omega 3 and Natural Pork Lines in the US and Canadian markets and does not anticipate any problems in demand, he said.