Maple Leaf Foods acquires plant to expand tempeh production

Maple Leaf Foods and its wholly owned subsidiary, Greenleaf Foods, have announced plans to acquire and build-out a food processing plant in Indianapolis, Indiana. The location will be used to expand the company’s tempeh production and plant protein capacity.

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Maple Leaf Foods will acquire a food processing plant to expand plant protein production capacity. The company's headquarters is shown here. (Maple Leaf Foods)
Maple Leaf Foods will acquire a food processing plant to expand plant protein production capacity. The company's headquarters is shown here. (Maple Leaf Foods)

Maple Leaf Foods and its wholly owned subsidiary, Greenleaf Foods, have announced plans to acquire and build-out a food processing plant in Indianapolis, Indiana. The location will be used to expand the company’s tempeh production and plant protein capacity.

Phase one of the project – the acquisition of the 118,000 square foot plant in Indianapolis – is expected to be complete in early April 2021. Maple Leaf Foods plans to install tempeh production equipment with the initial capacity of approximately 4.5 million kilograms to support growing demand for the company’s Lightlife tempeh products.

The project, including acquisition costs, is estimated to cost approximately US$100 million. Production is targeted to begin in the first half of 2022. The plant will employ approximately 115 people.

"Maple Leaf Foods has been purposeful in executing a multi-tiered strategy focused on capital efficiency. To date, we have found ways to leverage the capacity of our existing plant protein manufacturing assets, while successfully utilizing footprint in the rest of our network," said Michael McCain, President and CEO. 

"At this juncture, given the high demand for our tempeh products, this Project offers us the ability to deliver incremental capacity in a cost-effective, timely manner in a location that has synergies with our long-term vision."

The Indianapolis plant acquisition and retrofit will replace a planned plant protein facility in nearby Shelbyville, Indiana. Construction on that facility was scheduled to start in the late spring of 2019, with production expected in the fourth quarter of 2020. Development of that project has been delayed due to a number of factors including the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Maple Leaf Foods has invested heavily in plant-based proteins, saying that the segment is now in the “takeoff phase.” The Canadian company, which was previously known as a meat and poultry company, entered the segment in 2017 with the acquisition of Lightlife Foods and Field Roast Grain Meat Co. Subsidiary Greenleaf Foods launched a year later to support the Field Roast and Lightlife brands.

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