HyLife, a Manitoba integrated pork processor, headquartered in La Broquerie, with business around the world recently held an Open House to show the completion of its pork processing facility expansion and upgrade project.

The company focused the bulk of its investment modernizing the Integrated Pork Processing Plant in Neepawa with leading-edge technology making it one of the most sophisticated facilities in Canada.

This latest expansion created 165 additional jobs to bring the number of HyLife employees to 2,000 in Canada.

“We committed to this significant expansion and upgraded in response to our market growth in Japan and China,” said HyLife President Claude Vielfaure. “Our investment is totaled at $176 million to ensure we can meet both the quantity and the very high-quality standards our customers are seeking. Our new technology upgrades make our standards world class.”

The governments of Canada and Manitoba have invested $2 million toward HyLife’s processing expansion through Growing Forward 2 to help buy modern processing and packaging equipment in the new expansion.

In addition to the Neepawa processing plant, HyLife operates feed mills at Randolph and Killarney MB, many production facilities in eastern and western Manitoba. The company purchases hogs from producers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and sells the pork it produces to more than 23 countries, including Japan, China, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Vielfaure said this latest expansion and upgrade is in response to market growth in Japan and China. They produce fresh chilled pork at the Neepawa plant as their primary goal and some frozen products too and sell those products in the Asian market.

“We’re the number one seller of fresh chilled pork in the Asian markets, Japan being our number one country for fresh chilled which is a high-value product,” he said. “Our new investment, $176 million in our fully integrated pork company includes a feed mill in Killarney and hog barns in the western part of Manitoba. The biggest investment is our processing plant and adding 100 thousand square feet which includes a new cut floor and new technology that is simply going to be a world-class facility. We’ll be able to produce high-quality pork.”

Vielfaure said this would help make the shelf life longer which is essential when selling fresh chilled into the Asian market. It takes a while to get there so the longer the meat stays good, the better. It’s wholly deboned product and something they worked on for many years to continue to expand that marketplace.

He said Canada exports about 70 per cent of the pork it produces and HyLife exports an even more significant percentage than that. The new trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will help maintain markets in countries HyLife is already dealing with, and open other opportunities to sell pork.

“We export to over 23 countries around the world. The main countries we sell to are Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, US, and Canada,” said Vielfaure. “We produce a lot of our hogs ourselves, but purchase a portion of the hogs from different customers across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.”

With HyLife being a forward thinking company working hard to invest in the expansion that makes sense, Vielfaure said managing the growth and construction finishing the Neepawa plant, feed mill, and finisher barns they continue to look at all avenues and growth.

“We’re a company that has grown a lot over the years. We never stop thinking about what is our next step, and so, we’re looking at that right now.” Speaking at the recent Open House in Neepawa Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler said HyLife is a remarkable success story for Manitoba.

“We congratulate HyLife on the completion of its processing plant expansion,” said Eichler. “This expansion is an important investment for the province, creating new jobs and increasing Manitoba’s ability to meet market demand. It strengthens Manitoba’s position as a global leader in pork processing.”

HyLife’s commitment to an integrated Farms to Foods strategy focuses all internal resources and activities on continuous improvement processes. These support the innovation of nutritional and genetic pork programs to help deliver specific meat quality attributes demanded by customers including enhanced shelf life processes.

“It is exciting that consumers around the world have access to our high-quality pork. We value our outstanding suppliers, partners, and communities across the province and we’re proud to put Manitoba on the world map,” said Vielfaure. •

— By Harry Siemens