Canada-based Olymel invested $3 million in its Vallée-Jonction, Canada, pork processing plant, thus creating 160 new jobs.

This investment will be used to install a ham deboning table, which requires redevelopment of the butchering and chilled fresh products storage room. Ham deboning is a new operation for this facility. Work is slated to begin in November, and will continue through to February 2017 without interruption in the facility's current operations.

"This investment will allow the Vallée-Jonction facility to continue serving its markets more efficiently. This change is also an integral part of the reorganization of Olymel's fresh pork sector in Quebec with a view to optimizing performance and improving efficiency. The addition of 160 new jobs over and above the current workforce will bring the number of employees at our facility in Vallée-Jonction to nearly 1,200, which boosts the economic impact of our operations in the Beauce and the greater Québec City region," says Réjean Nadeau, chief executive officer.

The Vallée-Jonction plant currently has more than 1,000 employees and produces fresh chilled pork for the vast Japanese market. The Vallée-Jonction facility also supplies raw materials to the pork further processing facility at St-Henri-de-Lévis in Quebec.