Lucyporc is closing its plant that employs about 350 workers and merging operations at Olymel’s plant at Yamachiche, Quebec.
Olymel has spent more than $120 million to modernize its plant over the past two years and will now employ about 1,000 workers.
Lucyporc is a family-owned pork and poultry business that became a partner with Olymel. It is famous for meeting stringent standards to develop export markets and was the first Canadian plant approved to market to the European Union.
It is owned by the Robitaille Group which breeds and produces hogs, develops nutrition and slaughters and processes pork.
Olymel plans to add more than 300 new jobs as it launches a second shift that will increase pork slaughter capacity to 40,000 hogs from 18,000 per week.
About 60 per cent of the processed pork from the Olymel plant will be exported to about 50 countries.
