By Lou Cappa, Vice President of Poultry Strategy and Site Leader of London Poultry
It’s hard to believe that it’s been just over a year since we began processing chickens at our newest and largest poultry plant in London, Ontario. I’m so proud of what the team has accomplished in the past year, and excited for what more is to come for this innovative plant.
In November 2022, we officially began production at London Poultry, a process that was years in the making since we first started building the plant in 2019.
The facility spans 660,000 square feet and features world-class, state-of-the-art technology that truly revolutionizes production processes at Maple Leaf Foods.
Did you know that chicken is the most consumed and fastest growing protein in Canada? Chicken offers versatility, nutrition, and a low environmental footprint. People like you — our consumers — want chicken from birds that are raised and processed with care, and we at Maple Leaf Foods understand why. Safe, healthy poultry is an incredible way to nourish your families, and you can count on our London Poultry plant to always deliver on that promise.
I am delighted to congratulate and thank the 1,600 Team Members who each played a role in getting our London Poultry up and running during the first year of production. What an incredible milestone we’ve achieved!
Producing delicious products: Maple Leaf® Prime and Mina® Halal
Not only is London Poultry our biggest site at Maple Leaf Foods, it’s also the largest food industry investment in Canada’s history — what an honour! London Poultry features a wide array of cutting-edge technology to enhance people safety and food safety, animal care, and environmental sustainability. These are just some of Our Commitments we’ve made as an organization!
When it comes to animal care, we’re now able to offer environmentally controlled holding areas and are minimizing handling to reduce stress and keep birds comfortable at London Poultry, according to a strict and dedicated poultry welfare approach. This includes 13 areas of focus to ensure the health and wellbeing of our chickens at all steps in the poultry supply chain.
We’re pleased to have the capacity to produce more than 390 SKUs of delicious products at London Poultry. That includes Maple Leaf® Prime boneless, skinless chicken breast, chicken thighs, ground chicken, natural shredded chicken, and more. We’re also proud to deliver Mina® Halal chicken products like whole chicken, chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs, and chicken breasts. Pick up a package of your favourite Maple Leaf Foods chicken for a delicious homecooked meal for the family!
A virtual tour of innovation, animal care, and food safety
We at London Poultry are so happy to be an integral, contributing member of the London community!
In celebration of our one-year anniversary, we’re delighted to offer a ‘virtual tour’ of the new London Poultry plant. This next generation poultry plant was designed with our people and their health, safety, and comfort in mind. It truly puts our Team Members first in a modern, safe, inviting, and inclusive atmosphere where everyone can excel in responsibly producing safe, delicious poultry to nourish Canadians just like you.
To see an inside look of what it’s like to work at London Poultry, check out the video below.
We also ensured that London Poultry was purpose-built to offer a comfortable and people-friendly work environment. It features large windows, a bright and inviting cafeteria, a prayer room with a Wudu bath, and Wi-Fi is available throughout the plant. Check it out for yourself in the video below!
It wouldn’t be a poultry processing plant without a strong emphasis on our robust animal care practices. We’re proud of how we care for every chicken that is processed at London Poultry. Watch more below.
Finally, food safety begins at our plant in London, Ontario and extends into the millions of homes and families that our poultry nourishes. You can watch more about our food safety practices at London Poultry in the video below.
