La Coop federee’s meatpacking arm is set to shut an aging Quebec City further-processing plant it took over last year.
Olymel announced Tuesday it will close the former Aliments Triomphe plant in the Vanier area of Quebec City effective May 10, affecting 47 employees.
The Vanier plant’s production, which includes cretons (meat spreads), bologna, pepperoni and spaghetti sauce, will move over to Olymel’s Blainville plant, north of Montreal, Olymel said.
To handle the added output, the Blainville plant — another former Triomphe facility — is to receive $2 million in upgrades and an additional 30 staff, Olymel said.
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All affected employees at the Vanier plant will get severance, but will also get offers of employment at another Quebec City pork processing plant, in the St-Henri-de-Levis area. That plant’s operations are “very similar” to those at the Vanier facility, the company said.
Employees at the Vanier plant who choose to relocate will also have their years of service recognized as they relate to salaries and benefits, Olymel said.
The decision to close the Vanier plant followed Olymel’s review of the “potential synergies” of the three Triomphe plants it acquired for an undisclosed sum last June. Triomphe’s assets also include a Montreal-area plant at Laval.
The company’s review found that “redeployment of the (Vanier) facility’s manufacturing activities was necessary” given the age of the plant.
“In all the scenarios considered, the costs of modernizing the Vanier plant would not have allowed us to achieve profitability,” Olymel CEO Rejean Nadeau said in the company’s release.
“This decision will enable us to strengthen our production centres for the future, to invest in achieving even more efficiency, and even to create new jobs, as will be the case in Blainville.”
Shutting the Vanier plant and moving its work to Blainville “will foster efficiency gains, economies of scale, and increased production capacity, while also eliminating overlap,” Olymel said.
Olymel said last June it would continue the marketing and production of all Triomphe’s product lines. Those include deli meats, hams, cretons, pates and baby food, mainly for the Quebec market. Its brands include Tour Eiffel, Chef Georges, La Belle Bretagne, Nostrano, Alpina, Bilopage and Mother Hen/La Mere Poule. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
