Reading Time: 3 minutes Last fall’s ransomware attack at pork and poultry packer Maple Leaf Foods led to an “adverse economic impact” of $23 million or more on the company’s bottom line as it worked to restore systems, officials said. The company on Thursday released that estimate as part of its fourth-quarter financial report, in which it booked a […] Read more
Cyberattack a $23 million hit on Maple Leaf ledger
Company refused to pay ransom
Cybersecurity ‘incident’ hits Maple Leaf systems
Grocery firm Empire also dealing with IT grief
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some information technology (IT) systems at Canadian pork and poultry packer Maple Leaf Foods have been downed in what the company described Monday as a “cybersecurity incident.” The company said in a release Monday that it “took immediate action and engaged cybersecurity and recovery experts” when it learned of the problem, and its in-house and […] Read more
Expansions boost Maple Leaf plant’s bacon offerings
Pre-cooked bacon capability sets up Winnipeg plant as 'bacon centre of excellence'
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Winnipeg pork further-processing plant previously earmarked as Maple Leaf Foods’ “ham centre of excellence” now gets the same billing for bacon. The major Toronto meat processor announced Tuesday it had completed a $182 million, 73,000-square foot expansion at its Lagimodiere Boulevard prepared meats plant, to “significantly” increase its bacon production capacity. The expansion, Maple […] Read more
Maple Leaf takes up Ontario poultry plant
Option exercised on Cericola Farms' remaining facility
Reading Time: < 1 minute A southern Ontario processing plant specializing in organic and antibiotic-free poultry products has gone to Maple Leaf Foods in a postscript to a previous sale. Toronto-based Maple Leaf announced Friday it had closed its purchase of the Sure Fresh Foods poultry plant at Schomberg, Ont., about 30 km north of Vaughan, for an undisclosed sum, […] Read more
Quebec poultry packer to shut ex-Maple Leaf plant
Giannone to close Drummondville facility
Reading Time: 2 minutes The new owner of an antibiotic-free poultry processing plant in the Centre-du-Quebec region is set to shut the plant next week after a “thorough review” of its condition. Volaille Giannone announced Friday it will close the former Avicomax plant at Drummondville effective Nov. 6, after having bought it from Maple Leaf Foods in July for […] Read more
COVID-19 case confirmed at Maple Leaf hog plant
Reading Time: < 1 minute A worker at Maple Leaf Foods’ hog slaughter and processing plant at Brandon, Man. is recovering at home after testing positive for COVID-19, the Manitoba Co-operator has reported. The company said it received word over the long weekend about the case. Citing its own review of the situation and consultation with public health officials, the […] Read more
Maple Leaf poultry plant shuts for ‘deep cleaning’
COVID-19 found in three workers at Brampton facility
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of two Maple Leaf Foods plants at Brampton, Ont. has gone into shutdown mode for “deep cleaning” in the wake of three cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus among its workers. Toronto-based Maple Leaf announced Wednesday that operations at the company’s Kennedy Road poultry slaughter and packing plant in Brampton are suspended “while we complete […] Read more
Ottawa expected to ‘officially’ declare ag an essential service
The Western Grain Elevator Association says that designation will clarify things and help to keep grain moving
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s grain industry expects the federal government will soon officially declare agriculture an essential service. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), says that designation will have a practical application. “Hopefully it ends all confusion about grain workers at elevators, railway workers and anybody else required for moving grain, as to […] Read more
Maple Leaf lands ‘sustainability-linked’ credit
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian food processor Maple Leaf Foods is taking its recently-established sustainability cred to the bank. The Toronto food firm announced Wednesday it’s the first Canadian company to secure “sustainability-linked terms” for its credit facilities. Specifically, the company has picked up an unsecured committed revolving line of credit and two unsecured committed term facilities for a […] Read more
Beyond Meat’s new competitor: Tyson’s pea-and-meat blended burger
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods on Thursday launched its first vegetarian and mixed-protein products, including a beef and pea burger, as it seeks to compete with Beyond Meat and other companies catering to rising demand for plant-based alternatives to meat. Tyson is betting that meat eaters wanting healthier diets will see their blend […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
