A southwestern Ontario deli meat processor has picked up public funding to help install high-pressure pasteurizing equipment and expand its market reach.
Golden Valley Farms, which makes cold cuts from poultry at Arthur, about 40 km northwest of Guelph, will get $3.72 million from the province toward the company’s $12.6 million project.
Golden Valley will use the funds to install two “world-class” high-pressure processing machines. Such equipment uses cold water and high pressures (in some processes, up to 40 tonnes per square inch) to inactivate microbes and maintain products’ freshness and shelf life.
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The equipment will help the company continue developing new products requiring less sodium and fewer additives, the province said, adding that increased shelf life also allows Golden Valley to ship its products nationwide.
The project is expected to create 28 new jobs at the Arthur plant and retain 78 others, the province said.
The province’s investment is “helping us elevate meat processing and food safety standards to new levels and secure our role as a leader in the industry,” Keith Hehn, the company’s general manager, said in the province’s release Friday.
Golden Valley is a joint venture for Waterloo, Ont. processor Piller Sausages and Delicatessen with Winnipeg agrifood firm Parrish and Heimbecker.
