The provincial and federal governments have invested over $3.2 million since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to help Ontario agri-food businesses improve efficiency and grow their operations by offering more food choices for families who are shopping at home during the pandemic.
Since the investment, more than 650 businesses now have new or expanded technology including seven businesses in Simcoe North. One of those businesses is Leadbetter Foods in Orillia.
Leadbetter Foods was awarded a $150,000 grant on a $475,000 project for higher capacity and innovative packaging technology.
“The meat industry over the last 40 years has been struggling with automation and efficiency to be competitive on a larger scale with the United States,” explains Leadbetter Foods vice president of technical services, Doug Alexander.
“With the pandemic, there was a huge risk with our super plants going down because of COVID which would completely disrupt the meat supply chain. Investing in these small companies allows for a more secure food supply.”
Alexander says Leadbetter Foods is thrilled with the government grant.
“This incentive is good news. The strategy behind these kinds of investments is predominantly around attracting investment into an area that’s eroded over years and maybe decades in technology advancement,” he said.
“Canada never gets leading-edge technology, so this is the first of its kind in a long time of investments of public funds in meat technology. This encourages meat processors to advance their meat processing to lower costs and improve efficiency.”
While Alexander says the grant is appreciated by Leadbetter Foods, it’s also necessary for the meat supply chain, especially during the pandemic.
“This is not charity, it’s not industrial welfare, it’s quite literally undoing generations of neglect in either academia or foreign direct investment attraction,” he said.
Since receiving the grant in early 2021 Leadbetter Foods has grown its employment base from well under 200 people to nearly 300. The growth of their business is happening rapidly as a result of selling more product and being cost-competitive, said Anderson.
“The only way to bring that change was investing in technologies that make us more efficient because we will never have the scale of the U.S.,” Alexander said.
Since receiving the grant Leadbetter Foods has modified its packaging machinery.
“This grant has allowed us to invest in machinery that we wouldn’t normally justify, because restaurants are either closed or open at reduced capacity, so we’ve accelerated our investment plans by a couple of years,” Alexander said.
"It's allowed us to develop new modified atmosphere packaging, which allows meat shelf life to last a little bit longer so that restaurants don’t have to freeze it or store it at risk, it wouldn’t spoil as easy,” he said.
By extending product shelf life, Leadbetter Foods has reduced waste during the pandemic where restaurants are being forced to close or open a restricted capacity.
“We’ve had 25% less waste in our production, mostly plastics waste, which is good for the environment and lowers the cost of our plastic,” Alexander said.
Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop says Leadbetter Foods is a great example of resilience and perseverance as they continue to adapt to provide local residents, and Canadians across the country, with uninterrupted access to food.
“The pandemic raised new challenges for Leadbetter Foods and, as recipients of the Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative funding, enabled Leadbetter Foods to implement measures to improve efficiency and productivity to help strengthen their production and boost their competitiveness, prosperity, and sustainability,” Dunlop said in an emailed statement.
"We are so fortunate to have Leadbetter Foods in our community as an economic driver to job creation, and with their presence in local stores throughout Simcoe North," said Dunlop. "Leadbetter Foods are an integral part of our community and their commitment to waste management and economic recovery is to be commended.”
Dunlop says she is "proud" of Leadbetter Foods for their recent employee expansion and is also proud of the government's investments to assist homegrown processors become more competitive, more innovative, and better positioned to keep supplying safe and quality foods as the country recovers from the pandemic.
Dunlop says the government is also planning on doing more to help Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food sector in the near future.
“The government is committed to supporting Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food sector during this unprecedented time. While there has not been a date set, the province is looking at opening a food processors intake in the late spring or early summer,” she said.
