Site of the Sunnymel plant at Clair - Construction of the facility enters a new phase

ST. FRANCOIS DE MADAWASKA, NB, Feb. 15, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - This week construction of the future Sunnymel chicken cutting and slaughtering plant in the Village of Clair, New Brunswick, enters a new phase. After landscaping and pouring of the foundations were completed, the steel structures that form the framework of the building emerged this week. The ironworkers are already busy with these structures, raising the columns with a crane. This major part of the construction should be completed within six weeks, for the beginning of spring. Meanwhile, a team is busy purchasing production equipment, with delivery expected in early July. As expected, the plant should start operations in November.

Sunnymel is also continuing its collaboration with Enterprise Madawaska in the manpower recruiting process, which began last December and is designed to meet the needs of the future plant. Over 150 applications have been submitted to date. The recruitment campaign will intensify in April, when a team of recruiters will be on site and additional information will be made available.

Sunnymel is a business partnership formed by the producer Westco and the processor Olymel l.p. Construction of the new plant represents an investment of over $40 million and will create close to 250 permanent jobs. With a weekly slaughtering capacity of 450,000 chickens, the future plant will represent a major outlet for poultry producers in New Brunswick. Completion of this project will strengthen the poultry industry in the province and contribute significantly to economic development in the Upper Madawaska region.

About Westco
Groupe Westco Inc. is a New Brunswick company with its head office in Saint-François-de-Madawaska. The result of a common vision for expansion by many poultry producers, the company has become a model of success and profitability. Westco owns its own hatcheries, breeding farms, and shipping companies, and is also one of the largest poultry production organizations in Canada. The company has a strong commitment to the community, sponsoring several social programs and contributing to fund-raising initiatives in its region.

About Olymel l.p.
Olymel l.p. is a leader in the slaughtering, processing and distribution of pork and poultry meat products in Canada, with facilities in Québec, Ontario, and Alberta. The company employs more than 9,000 persons and exports nearly half its production, mainly to the United States, Japan and Australia, as well as some sixty other countries. Its sales stood at $2 billion this year, with a slaughtering and processing capacity of 160,000 hogs and 1.7 million birds a week. The company markets its products mainly under the Olymel, Lafleur and Flamingo brands.

Olymel l.p.:
Richard Vigneault
Communications
[phone] or [phone]

Groupe Westco Inc. :
Martin Daraîche
Senior Consultant
NATIONAL Public Relations
Tel.: [phone], ext. 230
Cell.: [phone]