Olymel is working on a project to expand and modernize its slaughterhouse located in Ange-Gardien. This expansion project, which is not expected to be completed in the coming months, would increase the site’s slaughter capacity by almost 30%.
In a request filed with the Commission de protection du territoire agricole (CPTAQ), Quebec’s watchdog for arable land, the processing giant Olymel presents the expansion of the Ange-Gardien plant, in Montérégie, as ” essential” to ensure “the competitiveness of the Quebec pork industry”.
The company cites its American competitors as an example, whose factories slaughter an average of 80,800 animals per week, which far exceeds the capacity of Quebec sites. With this expansion, Olymel would be able to slaughter close to 50,000 hogs each week, a 30% increase compared to its current capacity, which stands at 35,000.
“Automation, robotization and artificial intelligence systems would thus be installed at different levels of the production chain, making it possible to increase production while reducing the number of positions required,” reads the CPTAQ documents. , which incidentally gave the go-ahead for the project last week.
Major investments — an amount that Olymel has not disclosed — will be necessary for the expansion and modernization of the site. Without this expansion, the company argues that it will be difficult to achieve the objective of Quebec’s biofood policy. This aims to increase biofood exports by $6 billion by 2025.
Olymel confirmed to To have to these steps and the existence of its expansion project. However, the company refuses to detail it. “Nothing has yet been announced publicly,” says Richard Vigneault, corporate communications manager at Olymel.
However, it “is not conceivable” to start the expansion of the plant in the short term, he says: “The conditions are not met, the market conditions on the one hand and the labor conditions ‘work. And we are coming out of a pandemic. »
Arm wrestling with the Breeders
This expansion project, which should lead to an increase in the number of pigs slaughtered, comes after Olymel reduced its annual slaughter capacity by 1.25 million animals last March, including 530,000 from Quebec.
This reduction in purchases led to a standoff between the company and the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec (EPQ), given that Olymel is the largest producer, processor and distributor of pork in the province. The imbalance between hog production and slaughter capacity is evident in the province. To be slaughtered, animals from some forty sites leave Quebec for Ontario, Manitoba and the United States.
Contacted by The duty, the EPQ say they are “not aware of the details of Olymel’s plans for this expansion. However, if this project makes it possible to maintain or increase Quebec pork purchasing levels, it is well received by our organization”.