Reading Time: 2 minutes Provincial officials have temporarily shut a chicken and turkey slaughter and processing plant in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, citing recent cases of COVID-19 among employees. Eden Valley Poultry’s processing plant at Berwick will be closed “for at least two weeks,” the provincial health department said in a release Friday. “We know this will be a […] Read more
COVID outbreak shuts Nova Scotia poultry plant
Province closes Eden Valley for at least two weeks
Singapore approves sale of lab-grown meat in world first
U.S. maker says cultured meat's clearance may set template for future approvals
Reading Time: 2 minutes Singapore | Reuters — Singapore has given U.S. start-up Eat Just the greenlight to sell its lab-grown chicken meat, in what the firm says is the world’s first regulatory approval for so-called clean meat that does not come from slaughtered animals. The meat, to be sold as nuggets, will be priced at premium chicken prices […] Read more
Tighter timeline set for dairy farmers’ trade pact compensation
Feather sector compensation pledged with $691 million in programs
Reading Time: 3 minutes Compensation to Canada’s supply-managed farmers, to offset domestic market share dealt away in two recent free trade pacts, will now move more quickly to dairy farmers — and will take the form of new programs for feather sectors. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Saturday announced $1.405 billion in compensation, as pledged in August last […] Read more
JBS gears up for U.S. and Brazil expansions
Brazilian meat giant reiterates plans following strong Q3 results
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters — Food processor JBS SA reiterated plans to grow production capacity in Brazil and in the United States after posting strong third quarter results, executives said in a conference call to discuss earnings on Thursday. CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said 12 of the company’s plants in Brazil were being expanded, as JBS […] Read more
Pilgrim’s Pride strikes deal over U.S. chicken price-fixing charges
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. poultry company Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. said Wednesday it will pay a US$110.5 million fine after striking a plea deal with the Justice Department over price-fixing charges on chicken products. The guilty plea makes Pilgrim’s Pride, mostly owned by Brazilian meatpacker JBS, the first U.S. chicken company to reach an agreement with the […] Read more
U.S. indicts six more chicken-industry execs over alleged price fixing
Case alleges executives conspired to inflate prices for broilers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. government has indicted six more chicken-industry executives over alleged price-fixing, broadening antitrust prosecutions in its probe of the US$65 billion poultry sector. In June, the Justice Department indicted Pilgrim’s Pride CEO Jayson Penn and three others in its first charges in the criminal probe involving broiler birds, which account […] Read more
Olymel to ramp up processing at Quebec poultry plant
St-Damase expansion work to take about a year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Olymel plans to bring more of its poultry further-processing in-house with a $31.5 million expansion at one of its major slaughter and cutting plants in Quebec’s Monteregie. The meat packing arm of Quebec’s Sollio Co-operative Group announced Monday it had started work that day on a 35,200-square foot plant expansion at St-Damase, about 50 km […] Read more
Plant-based near-chicken on KFC’s Canadian menu to stay
Maple Leaf's Lightlife arm to make 'Plant-Based KFC' sandwich
Reading Time: 2 minutes Updated, Aug. 18: Consumers’ response to a single-day test of plant-based near-chicken menu items in Mississauga last year has led KFC Canada to add the product, full time, to its menu nationwide. The Canadian arm of the Yum Brands-owned chicken chain announced Wednesday its ‘Plant-Based KFC’ sandwiches will be available permanently at its stores across […] Read more
Quebec packer buying Maple Leaf chicken plant
Avicomax's supply agreements with farmers remain
Reading Time: 2 minutes A family-owned Quebec poultry packer specializing in antibiotic-free and organic chicken is set to buy a Maple Leaf Foods facility in the same line of work. Volaille Giannone, which operates a poultry slaughter and packing plant at St-Cuthbert, about 65 km southwest of Trois-Rivieres, announced Thursday it has a deal in place to buy Maple […] Read more
U.S. senators question packers over exports to China during pandemic
USDA shows record pork exports to China in April, raising questions about rising U.S. meat prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Two prominent U.S. Senate Democrats are pressing America’s top meatpackers to disclose by month’s end how much pork, beef and chicken they shipped to China during the coronavirus outbreak while warning of possible meat shortages at home. The request from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker increases scrutiny of companies such […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
