Toronto Archives - Grainews

File photo of a plate of tandoori chicken legs. (Paul_Brighton/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario halal processor to buy poultry packing capacity

Amir Quality Meats taking up Wellington Poultry

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News September 14, 2022

An Ontario meat processor specializing in the halal market has a deal in place to boost its capacity by buying a nearby chicken and specialty fowl packer. Amir Quality Meats, which operates a federally registered HACCP-certified boning and cutting plant at Brampton, has an agreement in place to buy the processing plant and “associated supply” […] Read more

Violife’s vegan cheese-substitute lines include cheddar-style slices. (ViolifeFoods.com)

Canola, Crops

Becel maker Upfield to relocate Ontario plant

Company to make vegan cheese substitutes, other spreads at Brantford

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News October 10, 2020

The maker of Becel margarine, Imperial spreads and, most recently, vegan near-cheese Violife plans to boost its Canadian manufacturing capacity with a move from Toronto to Brantford, Ont. The Canadian arm of Amsterdam-based Upfield said Wednesday it has bought a 164,000-square foot industrial building at Brantford and “brings a significant investment involving the purchase of […] Read more

Layne Chantler of Alliston, Ont. brought this show heifer to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 2019. (Farmtario photo by Jennifer Glenney)

Livestock

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair cancelled for 2020

Near-century-old annual ag showcase put off to 2021

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News June 25, 2020

Two years shy of its 100th anniversary, Toronto’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair has been called off for 2020. Organizers said Wednesday the event, which was scheduled for Nov. 6-15 at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, has been cancelled “due to our ongoing concern regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.” First held in 1922, spearheaded by Ontario cattle producer W.A. […] Read more

Livestock, Poultry/Eggs

Maple Leaf to consolidate Ontario poultry processing

By GFM Network News November 27, 2018

A new $660 million plant at London, Ont. will house Maple Leaf Foods’ Ontario fresh poultry processing operations by mid-2021 as the food processing firm prepares to shut three older facilities. Toronto-based Maple Leaf announced Monday it will build a 640,000-square foot plant at London, billed as “one of the most technologically advanced poultry-processing plants […] Read more

General, Machinery, Reuters

Walmart’s LatAm delivery app Cornershop eyes Canada

By GFM Network News November 15, 2018

Mexico City | Reuters — Cornershop, a Latin American grocery delivery app being acquired by Walmart, plans to expand into Canada early next year as a test market for the U.S., an executive for the three-year-old mobile app said. Walmart is buying Cornershop, which offers deliveries in Mexico and Chile, for US$225 million. The deal, […] Read more

General, Markets

Sobeys parent to buy fresh-food grocer Farm Boy

By GFM Network News September 24, 2018

The owner of the Sobeys and Canada Safeway chains has a deal in place to buy southern Ontario grocery retailer Farm Boy, a well known patron of the region’s producers. In a deal still subject to review by the federal Competition Bureau, Empire Co. announced Monday it will pay $800 million for the grocery chain, […] Read more

Crops

Ontario backs Mondelez’s Toronto bakery expansion

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News April 19, 2018

One of the world’s biggest snack food companies is up for an eight-figure investment from the Ontario government to boost production at its Toronto plant. The province on Monday announced the Mondelez Canada bakery in East York will get up to $22.6 million from the Jobs and Prosperity Fund, by way of that program’s Food […] Read more

Campbell Soup Co. plans to close its 87-year-old Toronto soup plant by mid-2019. (Campbell Soup Co. via BusinessWire)

Crops, Fruit/Vegetables

Campbell to shut Toronto soup, broth plant

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News January 29, 2018

Campbell Soup Co. will call a halt to all Canadian soup and broth production by mid-2019 when it closes the doors on its Toronto manufacturing plant. The Camden, N.J. company’s Canadian arm announced Wednesday it will close the plant in phases over a period of up to 18 months and move its production to three […] Read more

A Metro grocery store at the Orangeville Mall in Orangeville, Ont. (Onereit.ca)

General

Metro plans automated distribution for Ontario

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News October 12, 2017

One of Canada’s biggest grocery chains plans to build new hubs to distribute both fresh and frozen foods to its Ontario stores. Quebec-based Metro Inc. said Wednesday it expects to put up $400 million to modernize and automate its Toronto operations between 2018 and 2023, building two new facilities for fresh and frozen food distribution […] Read more

Gay Lea Foods CEO Michael Barrett (left) and co-operative chairman Steve Dolson. (Gay Lea Foods/Marketwired)

Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Gay Lea lays out dairy processing expansion plans

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News November 21, 2016

A dairy farmer co-op on an aggressive growth track has mapped out its next four years’ worth of expansions and upgrades, starting with a storied processing plant in southwestern Ontario. Gay Lea Foods Co-operative on Wednesday announced a budget of $140 million over four years to set up what it describes as an “innovative nutrition […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn rebounds from contract lows on short covering, bargain buying

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures come down from highs

Entomologist tests trap crops and marigolds to repel flea beetles at an Ag in Motion

GFM Network News