October 21, 2022

Canadian firm Olymel cuts jobs in its pork and poultry businesses

57 management positions will be eliminated in the most recent round of layoffs at Olymel, a major Canadian supplier of pork and poultry, Just Food reported.

The company, which is based in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, has now reduced its administrative workforce by 120 people in recent months, citing a variety of economic issues that are affecting the global food industry.

According to its website, Olymel operates 35 production and distribution facilities with more than 14,000 employees and is owned in large part by the Canadian cooperative Sollio Cooperative Group. The business exports its products to 65 different countries under brands like its own name-brand line, Flamingo, and Lafleur, among others.

Yanick Gervais, president and CEO of Olymel, said the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a historic labour shortage at their facilities, market and supply-chain disruptions, raw material price inflation, and an uncertain global economic landscape, are all factors that make a case for optimised company business models.

He said the difficult decision to significantly reduce their management staff is a response to the need to adjust to erratic market conditions and to better position the company for the future.

Sales for the company were CAD 4.2 billion (~US$3.1 billion; CAD 1 = US$0.73) in the fiscal year 2021, up CAD 80 million (~US$58.3 million) from the prior year. In Canada, the company has production and processing facilities in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick that serve the foodservice and retail industries.

-      Just Food