Olymel's executive made the announcement this week, indicating that the investment is intended to increase the production capacity of the cooked products facility in order to meet a growing demand on the Quebec and Canadian markets for this category of product.

The construction work required by the expansion project began this week and will add 15,000 square feet of work and storage space to the facility. The work, which should be completed in April next year includes installation of a third cooking line, construction of a spice warehouse, the addition of two loading docks and redevelopment of the individually quick frozen (IQF) section.

Olymel President and CEO, Réjean Nadeau, said: "With this major investment, Olymel is responding to customer demand from both the retail and HRI (hotels, restaurants, institutions) sectors for pre-cooked chicken products, which save time and improve efficiency in the kitchen. The expansion and latest generation equipment that will be installed at the Ste-Rosalie plant will allow us to seize even more business opportunities and consolidate operations and jobs at this facility. By relying on product quality and efficient customer service as well, Olymel intends to increase its market share."

The Ste-Rosalie processing facility employs more than 420 persons. In addition to its boning operation, the facility fabricates cooked and breaded chicken products such as wings, breast morsels and breast strips to serve its own brands, mainly Flamingo, as well as for private labels. The plant in Ste-Rosalie sources its fresh products from Olymel's poultry slaughterhouses.

Ste-Rosalie plant manager, Claude Chapdelaine, commented: "This is excellent news for our employees and our customers, because once the construction is completed, it will make a reorganisation of work possible, while operations will become more efficient.

"This expansion and modernisation project should enable us to reduce our operations to five days instead of the current seven, as well as retain all of our staff. By increasing our production volume by nearly 40 per cent, this investment will significantly improve our ability to meet the needs of our customers and markets."