Olmel’s management relayed the news to employees Wednesday morning, before making it public in the afternoon. The factory will close on November 12th.

A total of 29 jobs will be canceled as a result of this closure, but Olimel wants all 29 employees […] It can remain within the company at its other organizations in the region and will make all necessary efforts to do so, supported Olymel’s President and CEO, Réjean Nadeau, in a press release.

We have two establishments in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and several others in Sainte-Rosalie and Saint-Damase, among others. So we have the possibility to move all 29 employees who were affected by this decision.

The company states that it made this decision after evaluation Carefully capabilities and needs in this productive sector.

Mr. Vigneault added the investments that were necessary to continue operating this plant, which, in the end, would not be profitable. It is a purely economic business decision.

Less than two years of existence

The plant has been owned by Olymel since January 2020, and the company acquired it when it bought the pork business from the family business, F. Ménard. It specializes in processed pork products, such as bacon.

A spokesperson for Olmel said the plant, which was built in 2011, does not need major renovations, but the company should instead Watch how [les opérations] It can be done in the most cost-effective way possible.

So Olmel abandoned the 70,000-square-foot facility less than two years after it was acquired. But the company’s spokesperson explained that this period was enough to come to the conclusion that the profitability of the plant could not be achieved.

The deal took place just before the pandemic spread to all of F., Mr. Vigneault mentioned.

The company continues to think about what it will do with the site and buildings.

The union representing workers at the plant was not available for comment at the time of publication.