Buyer found for closing Maple Leaf poultry plant

Eden Valley Poultry, a new chicken processing company comprised of poultry farmers from the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, along with Maple Lodge Holding Company, has entered an agreement to purchase a closing Maple Leaf Foods facility in Berwick, Nova Scotia.

Maple Leaf announced the closure of its prepared meats plant in Berwick in November, with production scheduled to end April 29. “We are very pleased to have reached this agreement that will result in the plant being converted into a new poultry primary processing facility,” said Rick Young, executive vice president of transformation for Maple Leaf Consumer Foods.

“This is a very positive outcome which will bring new opportunities for people currently employed at Berwick and the community of King’s County. It also fulfills the commitment we made last November to find an alternate use for the plant that would leverage the benefits of the existing facility.”

The new facility is expected to be operational by early summer 2012, processing more than 40 million kilograms of poultry annually and employing about 200 people. The value of the transaction, expected to close May 13, has not been disclosed.