Maple Leaf Foods announces $660 million investment in London

Construction set to begin in spring 2019 on a new 640,000 sq. ft. facility

LONDON, ON, Nov. 26, 2018 /CNW/ - Maple Leaf Foods announced plans to invest $660 million to build a new, 640,000 sq. ft., value-added fresh poultry facility in London, Ontario.

This new facility will be one of the most technologically advanced poultry-processing plants in the world and will initially employ 1,450 full and part time employees to meet the growing demand for premium poultry products. Maple Leaf has chosen to build on a 100 acre site along Wilton Grove Road, just south of the 401. Construction will begin in spring 2019, and is projected to be completed by 2021.

"As the largest addition to our food processing sector in the last 20 years, Maple Leaf Foods will bring significant employment and long-term economic benefits to the entire Southwest region," said Kapil Lakhotia, President & CEO, London Economic Development Corporation.

The London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) and City of London officials have been working extensively with Maple Leaf Foods to secure this $660 million capital investment. The LEDC is working with Fanshawe College, Brescia University College, and other training institutions to develop skilled talent for food and beverage processing, as well as quality assurance, nutritional sciences, product development, and food chemistry.

"I would like to welcome Maple Leaf Foods to London," said Mayor Matt Brown. "London's commitment to world-class infrastructure and a robust industrial land strategy put London in a competitive position to attract an investment of this magnitude."

London is recognized as a provincially significant food and beverage processing hub, with more than 60 companies employing over 7,000 people at leading businesses including Labatt, McCormick, Dr. Oetker, Natra, Cargill, The Original Cakerie, Sikorski Sausages, and Nestlé, as well as several start-up food and beverage companies. 

"This world-class facility will enable Maple Leaf to meet the steadily growing consumer demand for premium, value-added poultry products, and strengthen Canada's food system," said Michael H. McCain, President and CEO, Maple Leaf Foods.

Through the City's industrial lands development strategy, a new greenfield site near Highbury Avenue and Wilton Grove Road provided ideal infrastructure for Maple Leaf Foods in order to secure this state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing facility.

SOURCE London Economic Development Corporation