Last week LaBroquerie, Manitoba based Hytek Limited announced it has signed a deal with Springhill Farms for the purchase of its Neepawa based food processing facility.

Hytek, the largest privately owned pork producer in Canada with production and marketing operations across Canada and the U.S. and pork production and processing operations in China, plans to assume full operation of the plant in January.

Vice president business development Guy Baudry says the company is committed to taking the plant to the next level.

Guy Baudry-Hytek Limited

Currently Springhill operates at approximately 34 hundred hogs on the kill and they would cut approximately a third of that.

They have a stable and skilled workforce of about 350 people and what our objectives are are to further invest in the those operations an additional 35 million dollars and take the plant to full operational level.

What we want to do is take it up to four thousand hogs a day doing the primary and secondary cuts along with realizing on all the value adding opportunities that we can do at the plant.

With that level of investment this will create an additional 200 jobs at the facility so, at the end here, we're looking at having an operational staff of about 550 people.

Baudry says, for Springhill's current suppliers, it will be business as usual and then with, the added investment in the plant, additional Hytek hogs will be accommodated.

He notes Hytek will continue to build on the international markets developed by Springhill Farms in North America, South American, eastern Europe, Russia, China and Asia.