Olymel is seeking a buyer for the pork-packing plant it intends to close in Quebec.
“We believe this is an opportunity to potentially diversify the Canadian processing landscape,” said René Roy, president of the Canadian Pork Council.
“We also know there is growing global demand for our products, so there must be a solution to help us meet that demand,” he said at a meeting the House of Commons Agriculture Committee called to discuss the Canadian pork industry and specifically Olymel’s financial losses and prospects.
Roy said “we know the pressures Olymel faces are particular to the company, but that some of them are also those the industry faces as a whole.
“We also know modernization and diversification of our food processing capacity is going to be critical long-term, and we appreciated the opportunity to discuss how producers can access buyers for their products.”
“This closure will impact Quebec, Atlantic Canada and other parts of the country, so a national solution is required, and we know the committee will work with the industry to find solutions that work,” he said.
The pork industry is a $7-billion industry in Canada, with almost $5 billion in exports.
The Quebec industry is discussing a buy-out program to reduce production and ease willing producers out of production because there is not enough capacity to slaughter current production volumes and Quebec would need to develop a supply chain to export hogs, either as weaners or market-weight hogs
