Manitoba Pork Producer Buys Minnesota Plant as Part of Expansion

HyLife has increased their pork processing capacity by 60% and given themselves a considerable foothold in the the U.S

by Josh Aldrich – PostMedia

The La Broquerie, Man.-based pork producer purchased a 75% equity share of Prime Pork LLC in Windom, Minn. from Taylor Corporation on Friday afternoon. Glen Taylor, who also owns the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, will remain as a partner in the recently renovated plant.

The purchase will increase HyLife’s total processing capacity from two million to 3.2 million hogs annually. While this move will not increase overall processing capacity in Canada, it will increase the ability of the Manitoba company to meet demands for exports — 60% of what they produce goes to Japan — and domestic markets.

“Plants in both Canada and the US will strengthen our supply chain, giving us further diversity in our operations to better serve our customers around the world”

 

“Plants in both Canada and the US will strengthen our supply chain, giving us further diversity in our operations to better serve our customers around the world,” said Grant Lazaruk, HyLife’s CEO and president in a press release.

The purchase was completed as processing plants throughout North America have struggles with challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plant in Windom did close its doors for two days for a deep cleaning and for other preventative procedures to be taken after two employees tested positive for the coronavirus in April, according to StarTribune.com.

“COVID-19 has been a challenge at this plant, but for the most part we’ve been able to mitigate it,” said Kevin Geisheimer, HyLife media spokesperson. “We’ve responded with our COVID-19 response plan and so far it’s been controlled.”

HyLife has not had an outbreak at its plant in Neepawa, which processes two million hogs annually, as experienced in other parts of the country.

The pandemic has also created supply chain issues throughout North America. Manitoba alone produces eight million hogs a year, most of which are exported to the U.S. for processing.

This acquisition follows their May 7 purchase of ProVista Agriculture which boosted the number of hogs HyLife produces in a year by one million hogs.

While the purchase of Prime Pork does not mean there will be additional processing capacity created, Geisheimer did not rule that out in the long term.

“We’re always looking for growth opportunities,” he said. “There is a very good chance that could happen in the future, but as of right now there is no plans.”