The Rural Voice, 2002-04, Page 39plant capable of handling 150 hogs
per hour.
The partnership had grown after
both parties discovered, about three
years ago, they were moving in the
same direction, Terpstra said at the
initial press conference announcing
plans to the plant, originally planned
for Listowel. Acre -T Farms was
looking at building its own packing
plant. Norfolk Packers, which was
provincially inspected, was looking
to build a new plant to meet tougher
federal standards, said Larry Tulpin.
BGoth sides bring strengths to the
partnership, said Frank said
back then. The Tulpins bring
expertise in packing while the
Terpstras bring strength in pork
production and will provide a steady
supply of pork.
The plant will also allow some
small provincially -inspected plants to
contract out their killing operations
and concentrate on upgrading their
processing operations to meet federal
standards, a much more economical
proposition. It would allow these
plans to double their capacity and,
because further processing is more
labour intensive, would create more
jobs. It also creates export
opportunities since the plant is
federally inspected.
The 30,000 square foot, $6.5
million plant will operate at about
half capacity for the early months as
staff becomes trained. Initially, 50
people will be employed, with a
capacity to handle 5,000 hogs a
week. Later the plant will move to
two shifts to two shifts, handling
10,000 hogs a week with a workforce
of 100, then to 200 employees within
five years.
The plant will have a competitive
advantage by reducing the normal
trucking costs of live hogs to plants
which are located farther from the
main pork producing areas in the
province. More than 50 per cent of
Ontario's hog production is within a
one-hour drive.
The plant will be the most modern
in Canada, Tito Guglielmi of Mallot
Creek Associates Inc., the
engineering firm handling the design,
explained at the initial press
conference. It will be just the fourth
plant in Ontario to use a carbon
dioxide stunning system. The system
lowers the hogs into a well filled
1
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APRIL 2002 35