Olymel closing two pork further processing plants

Canadian meat and poultry producer Olymel plans to close two further processing plants in Quebec.

Roy Graber Headshot
(Courtesy Olymel)
(Courtesy Olymel)

Canadian meat and poultry producer Olymel plans to close two further processing plants in Quebec.

The company announced on February 1 that the facilities in Blainville and Laval would close, effective April 28.

The two facilities poised for closure specialize in the production of hams, pates and deli meats marketed under various brand names, including La Tour Eiffel and Nostrano.

Olymel’s management notified employees at both facilities, as well as the United Food and Commercial Workers union that represents workers at both plants. Employees were given 12 weeks notice of termination. Offers to transfer employees to other Olymel plants will also be made.

“The decision to close our two processing plants in Blainville and Laval is part of the reorganization that began more than a year ago and is due to the ability of other facilities to produce the same products and therefore achieve savings and efficiencies,” Olymel President and CEO Yanick Gervais said. I know that this is a difficult decision for the affected employees, but I want to reiterate our firm commitment to relocated any who wish to do so in our other Olymel facilities. I believe that today’s announcement should enable us to achieve our operational optimization objectives more rapidly in the context of the unfavorable economic conditions, with rising raw material costs, labor shortages and the weakness of certain markets all affecting the company’s profitability.”

In total, 170 employees will be affected. There are 134 employees at thee Blainville plant and 36 at thee Laval plant.

The workload at both plants will be absorbed into other Olymel facilities.

Olymel stated that it will assess what to do with thee buildings housing the two plants prior to the final closure date.

Other recent Olymel cuts, closures and expansions

The decision to close these two plants follows other cuts made by Olymel in recent years. In November 2021, it closed its pork further processing plant in Henryville, Quebec. In 2022, Olymel announced it would close a pork processing plant in St-Hyacinthe, Quebec. It also announced that it was eliminating 177 management positions.

However, Olymel’s poultry operations has experienced one area of growth in recent history with the expansion of its poultry slaughterhouse and cutting plant in St-Damase, Quebec. The company also established its own microbiology lab in Ange-Gardien.

Olymel, according to the WATTPoultry.com Top Poultry Companies Database, is Canada’s largest poultry producer and second largest pork producer. It is a unit of the Sollio Cooperative Group.

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