Quebec’s largest pork processor is closing one of its four hog slaughterhouses in the province. The identity of the plant will be announced tomorrow by Olymel, which has called the media to the head office in Saint-Hyacinthe. Hundreds of layoffs are expected.
Its four slaughterhouses are located in Yamachiche, Saint-Esprit, Ange-Gardien and Vallée-Jonction.
In response, the spokesperson for the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec remains cautious for the moment. “We cannot comment at this stage, we will wait to see the details of the announcement, indicated Tristan Deslauriers. We want to be very clear on one thing, however: no breeder and breeder will be left behind. The priority of the organization is to ensure that there is a minimum impact on their daily lives and we will support those most affected. We will work with the various partners to achieve this. »
The announcement is expected. Faced with its financial difficulties, Olymel has made no secret of its intentions.
“It is certain that there will be a consolidation of slaughterings in fewer sites or an overhaul of work shifts,” said last February the president and CEO of Olymel, Yanick Gervais on the sidelines of the meeting. Annual General Meeting of Sollio Cooperative Group. Olymel is 84% owned by the cooperative. We do not have the same needs at 81,000 pigs slaughtered per week as at 130,000”, he specified on this occasion. Olymel intends to reduce its slaughtering by 20%.
Faced with a major labor shortage, Olymel no longer has the capacity to slaughter as many hogs as in the past. He prefers to slaughter less and focus on valuing the most profitable pieces.
Olymel had reduced its purchases of hogs by 530,000 per year starting in March 2002. In October of the same year, the processor threatened to reduce its slaughter volume by 250,000 hogs.
In recent years, Olymel has announced the closure of three pork processing plants: Saint-Hyacinthe, Anjou and Blainville. It also changed the vocation of its Princeville plant, which no longer slaughters and which has become a value-added cutting room.
In October 2022, the transformer also abolished 177 executive positions.
This restructuring follows a period of strong expansion. Olymel has in fact chained acquisitions since 2015. It acquired A. Trahan, from Yamachiche, and La Fernandière, from Trois-Rivières, in 2016, Aliments Triomphe for 65.2 million and the Ontario Pinty’s for 226 million in 2018 and F. Ménard, from Ange-Gardien, for 605 million in 2020, at the top of the cycle.
Pork meat is one of the province’s most important export products with revenues of 2.1 billion in 2020. There are nearly 2,000 pig farmers in our countryside.
Olymel has long been the cash cow of its parent company, representing approximately 50% of its revenues.
This is no longer the case. In the fresh pork sector, Olymel claims to have lost $390 million over the past two years. The company announced pre-tax losses of 445.7 million for 2022, compared to 71.8 million for 2021.
The Quebec state came to its rescue by injecting 150 million in equity in May 2021. Since April 2022, pork producers have been selling their production to it at a discount.