by BETTER FARMING STAFF
Creating stability for hog suppliers, employees and customers is a primary goal for the new owners of the former Maple Leaf Foods Inc. pork processing plant in Burlington.
The new owners of Ontario’s largest capacity pork processing plant are banking on stability to establish longer-term contracts with high quality hog suppliers and customers, says a spokesman for Florida-based Sun Capital Partners Inc, who declined to be identified. Last week Maple Leaf Foods announced it had sold the Appleby Line plant to Sun Capital, along with related assets, for $20 million.
Current pork producers’ contracts will transfer with the business, which Sun Capital plans to run under the name Fearmans Pork Inc. The spokesman said transition from the Maple Leaf brand will be gradual. The deal includes long-term arrangements to supply Maple Leaf’s processing operations and the Rothsay rendering plant.
The company is interested in new customers and opportunities but right now effort is focused on ensuring the ownership transition is smooth for all of the plant’s current customers. Orders placed with the plant will be continue to be honoured.
The Fearmans Pork trademark was one of the assets acquired in the deal. It was used at the Burlington facility before Maple Leaf Foods was acquired by the McCain family in 1995. The spokesperson says the trademark may have been used by Maple Leaf in a limited capacity for international business. The new owner has yet to determine how prominent the Fearmans brand will be on packaged meats.
An internet search reveals that a U.S. federal trademark for Fearmans Fresh Meats was filed by Fearmans Inc., located at a Burlington address, in July 1993. The website says the trademark was cancelled in June, 2001.
Sun Capital intends to hold the plant separately from numerous other holdings. Among these is canner CanGro Foods Inc. in Burlington, which Sun Capital purchased CanGro from Kraft in 2005 and closed two of its three Ontario canning plants in 2008. The remainder, a tomato processing facility in Dresden, is still in operation.
The spokesman said he could not comment on CanGro’s decisions because he had not been involved.
The Burlington plant has capacity to slaughter 45,000 hogs a week, nearly half of the 93,000 hogs processed in Ontario in the last week in October.
A press release dated Nov 10 says Sun Capital affiliates have invested in more than 240 companies worldwide with combined sales in excess of $40 billion since Sun Capital's inception in 1995.
The same release says Maple Leaf Foods Inc. had sales of CAD $5.2 billion in 2009. BF
Comments
Hmmm, lets see, we have an investment firm from Florida purchasing the Maple Leaf Plant......their experience in the pork packing business (if any) isn't mentioned, their only brand name is Fearmans (any consumers ever heard of it?), they are going to sell commodity pork to MLP (nobody makes money at that), and farmers are supposed to be breathing a sigh of relief!!! I think I'll wait and see, this plant could be sold again sooner than you think (it was sold at a pretty cheap price).
The million dollar question is whether Maple Leaf is obligated to buy anything, or whether this new enterprise becomes just another potential supplier of fresh pork.
The two million dollar question is why, in an industry dominated by double-shift plants in neighbouring states, would anyone buy a plant which will never have enough product to justify a double-shift?
The three million dollar question is whether Maple Leaf made the sale just to get the plant off their books, with both the buyer and the seller simply making the appropriate noises to make people think this sale is anything but a smoke screen for a complete closure of the plant in six months.
I find it amazing that this pork facility is allowed to operate near homes and other businesses. The smell is awful! Move the company away from Burlington!!
Dear Editor,
I work at MLP, the black pearl at Burlington. I am not very literate and the only job I could get is at Maple Leaf Fresh Foods, Burlington. I have plenty of company. Where else can someone who cannot speak English can earn CAD$400 per week after taxes. This is my Bread and bacon. With living expenses sky rocketing now and in the future, I am concerned about my paycheck. I don't care about the owners, but , I need a raise, if Fearmans need me to work there. The current dental and medical coverage is too short of actual needs. I ask the new management to come out of the bush with their kill and hold a town hall meeting and introduce themselves to us, formerly the "Dogs of McCain". If there is more money, who cares about the ownership change?
Right on bro!
Good luck,
At least you still have a job,those of us that were laid-off some are really struggling to survive.
Dear Comrades,
Maple Leaf was asking nearly CAD$43 million when they put the black Pearl on he block 5 years ago. Then they reduced the line speed considerably about three months ago. We all felt something is going to happen. Then the black pearl was sold. There was lay off of workers less than three years of service. What is happening? No more hush hush. There is a new sun shining in the big executive chambers. The future of "meat and bakery" is in small plants. Gone are the days of dinosur behemoths churning tasteless products, designed by cluless researchers, handled by faceless workers in very large numbers. It is not the scale and numbers, but the personal qualities that win customers.
I wish the new owners all success.
I worked at the Burlington plant and it could make a lot more money. The plant wastes so much money on water and electricity becouse of poor maintenance and not doing easy yet cheap repairs. I could go on for ever after all I did work in the maintenance department. It is a real shame becouse there is so much potential, just the wrong people running it.
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There is no future for that plant unless they hire all new management. The current team just doesn't have it.
I worked for Canada packer just cross street from Fearman then and now, then they closed I work for Maple Leaf at Brockly Dr hotdog plant. I retired very early by 2 this plants because
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Brother, if you can get it so good to you. for the long time I don,t hear some body do too good,
Good luck brother
Hello,
Now Fearmans is the largest employer in Burlington. The plant ought to operate for years and years to help people like me work, shop, and live with a mortgage and auto loan to pay off. Fearmans saved many poor people from depending on employment benefit or Ontario work to make ends meet. How can I take my children to a dentist or get prescription filled without employment? Fearmans offers stable steady employment for us. After all the former employer contributed to pension in money losing investments. Even though ################a , many hardworking immigrant families find meaningful employment at Fearmans. Sometimes three generations of the same family adapt to this plant. This is a special team spirit rarely found in other places. Burlington is expensive to live. So many comrades choose to live in Hamilton. Many lucky people occupying management posts flew away to sister plants when the plant was put on sale. Towards the last moments, management posts were filled from the ranks of dedicated workers. I can clearly see a frown on some of their foreheads. Now I ask the Halton municipality to help the new management. After all the Hamilton municipality was so enthusiastic to help build the multi million dollar bakery for Maple Leaf. This will force the new management to hire more people and inject added life into the life of so many people. Cheers Fearmans!
I bet to all of you they will close this plant in 2 years time. Why because too much fat, if they don't trim.
Good luck
As a employee of Fearmans pork I thought I should give some insight.
Since Fearmans has takin over again, staff is coming back from layoffs, repairs to make the plant more efficient are being made. Also new management staff is being hired to give some fresh eyes on the place. Rules and regulations are being tightened up and things are running smoothly.
Line workers are being watched more to ensure we have only top notch people who respect their jobs working for us.
Fearmans is sure to grow to be an excellent company providing pork at it's finest!
With Fearmans takeover, hopes were high in some quarters.
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Well the Fearmans Burlington plant now operates four days a week with overtime. I say they are going the chicken way.
Just a note of who I'm : I joined MLF and worked hard to be a breadwinner for my family. Like my other comrades, I cut pork rind, cleaned barrels, pushed meat into packages, carried boxes of meat onto pallets, shipped meat onto trucks, flipped bellies, trimmed outside, inside, de-boned hams, skinned picnics, sorted rinds for export to Mexico. Well, I had the backbone to do this for a living.
Now the line speed is about 6500 hogs an hour, down from 8500. There goes my overtime. I need a second job on Fridays just to make ends meet. Life is hard here at Fearmans. If the authorities have spine, they should help hog farmers raise more pigs, with incentives and more. Shouldn't hard work be rewarded? This summer, I hadn't a chance to barbecue ribs, just pork chops that is all! When consumer price inflation is on the ascend, my earning power took a hit due to none of my fault. There are more hog transport trucks going towards South West than Appleby Line. It is time to tighten my belt and worry about jumping ship.
I went through the John Morrell plant in Sioux Falls, SD, and the Hormel plant (the makers of Spam) in Austin MN, in 1985, when they were both processing about 1,100 pigs per hour - if I recall correctly, the line appeared to be going about as fast as a man could walk, If, as you claim, Fearman's/Maple Leaf is/was processing about 6 times that, it would be going about 30 miles per hour, which is simply preposterous, and means that they could kill most all of the Ontario hogs coming to market in about two days every week - I don't think you know what you're talking about.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
I hope all of you hard working folks can one day soon find employment in an industry that doesn't exploit its workers and doesn't make a profit torturing and slaughtering defenseless animals. I have a friend who was a second generation worker at the Burlington plant who is now completely Vegan - no meant, no eggs, no dairy.
God bless.
I truly feel for all the employees who work in the pork industry, and although I would never wish job loss on anyone, the needless torture and murder of these intelligent animals cannot be justified by human jobs. The pork industry must be phased out. There is enough quality information available these days that hopefully people will begin to realize that there is absolutely no need for people to eat pork. It's not good for you, it's inhumane, and it must end.
Life with no BACON would suck!!!
then i guess you all are going to live on vegies no meat . hmm interesting can a person live on abolutly no meat whatsoever
I've been living off only veggies my entire life, no animals in my system and I'm perfectly healthy with top notch blood work :)
well i'm sorry you feel that way for you are a only concerned with animals while there are millions of children in Africa that are dying. Being a vegetarian is your problem so don't say that it is wrong to eat meat for we would all get some major health issues and who wants to eat toffu disgusting.and when you don't eat meat you affect more than the the jobs of the workers.
I live on appleby line south of the plant and let me say I live waking up to the smell of pig shit. No I don't. This is the only factory that shouldn't be in our lovely community of burlington. Move this plant else where. It stinks like Crap looks lime Crap and I'm sure the housing dept. Could make use of the space for some.condos or something. This plant smells so bad and numerous complaints have been made about the odor. If you want buelington to be the number one city to live in this pig shit hole needs to go. And hey, my dad worked there for 14 yrs and doesn't change a thing. This is not a plant that should plopped right in the city. Move this plant to the country!
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