Meat+Poultry - November 2020 - 12

BUSINESS NOTES

Olymel invests $31.5
million to expand plant
Olymel is investing more than $31.5 million
to expand its poultry slaughtering and
cutting plant in St. Damase, Montérégie,
Quebec. The project will add 35,200 square
feet of space to the existing plant and bring
80 new jobs to the facility. The yearlong
project started Sept. 28 and is not expected
to interrupt the plant's current production.
The investment will equip the plant
with an additional cutting line, three
automatic deboning lines and four tray
packing lines as well as new high-capacity,
state-of-the-art equipment. In addition,
the plant will get a new shipping area and
refrigerated warehouse and an expanded
cafeteria and employee service areas. With
the expansion, the plant will now employ
almost 500 workers over two shifts.
"By acquiring the space and equipment
needed to pre-package products directly
at the plant, Olymel will be able to better
serve clients who require large volumes

of pre-packaged poultry products for their
needs," said Réjean Nadeau, president
and chief executive officer of Olymel.
"Olymel will thus bring operations that
used to take place externally in-house,
enabling it to reduce product handling
and transportation time, and have better
control over quality, order management
and logistics."
In 2016, Olymel invested in its aircooling room at the St. Damase plant and
in 2019, the company installed a major
CO2 anesthesia system. With this additional
investment, Olymel has spent nearly $60
million to modernize and expand this
poultry plant.  
Olymel's St. Damase facility produces
more than 154 million lbs of poultry
products annually. The plant produces
poultry products for private customers as
well as supplying the company's poultry
further-processing plants.

FPL Foods to grow
Georgia operations

FPL said expansion of the company's
carcass cooler and fabrication floor will kick
off the first phase of the project. The work
will allow FPL to operate a second shift
and increase production of its Black Angus
and Akaushi beef programs. FPL recently
acquired the purebred Ankony Black Angus
genetic herd and will use these genetics to
build supplies of high-quality Black Angus
cattle to accommodate the company's Châtel
Farms, Reidsville, Ga., backgrounding and
cattle feeding operation. This initial phase
is scheduled for completion in September
2021. The company expects to process up
to 2,500 Black Angus and Akaushi fed cattle
per week.
All phases of the expansion will be
completed within the next three years,
and throughput will increase to more than
5,000 head. FPL said these numbers will
supplement the company's current cow and
bull processing and take total production to
more than 10,000 head per week.

FPL Food LLC, a vertically integrated beef
processor, recently secured financing to
expand the company's facilities in Augusta,
Ga. The first phase of the company's multiphased expansion plan includes rebuilding
the harvest and fabrication facility.
FPL said the expansion would provide
needed capacity to meet growing demand
for its vertically integrated beef brands.
The company expects to further solidify
its position as the Southeastern US beef
processing leader with the expansion.
"Our company's vision has always been
to be a premier cattle producer and beef
processor supporting Southeastern US
agriculture and providing premium quality
beef to meet demand from our growing
customer base," said Francois Leger, FPL
Food founder and chief executive officer.
"This expansion brings that vision to
reality."

12

IPPE cancels
in-person
2021 show
Show organizers of the
annual International
Production & Processing
Expo (IPPE), held every
January in Atlanta, have
made the decision not to
hold an in-person event
in 2021 due to concerns
about the threat posed
by the coronavirus
(COVID-19). The show
was originally scheduled
for Jan. 26-28, 2021.
IPPE show management will provide
virtual offerings during
IPPE week, including
educational programs for
attendees and exhibitors
as well as "exhibitor marketplace engagement."
"We are replicating
the elements that can
deliver the most value
in a digital environment.
While we know we
cannot simply transfer the live, in-person
experience of IPPE
to an online offering,
we will provide buyer
engagement through an
exhibitor marketplace
showcase with direct
communication options
with industry suppliers
in addition to online
educational opportunities," IPPE show management said.

For more news,
visit MEATPOULTRY.com

MEAT+ POULTRY | 11.20 | www.meatpoultry.com

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