Canada’s ‘super’ bakery fires up the ovens

06-Oct-2011 - Last updated on 07-Oct-2011 at 08:06 GMT

Maple Leaf Foods has opened a new commercial bakery it claims is the largest in Canada. The Canadian packaged food company has spent $100 million on creating the 385,000 sq ft facility, which is situated in the Red Hill Business Park in Hamilton, Ontario.

The new plant will produce white and wheat breads, hamburger buns and hot dog buns, as well as several lines which are marketed in Canada under Maple Leaf’s Dempster’s brand. These include Dempster’s Half Loaf Deli Ryes, Dempster’s English Muffins and Dempster’s Tortillas.

Maple Leaf Foods said the reason for creating the new facility is ‘to support our long-term growth as the leading producer of value-added bakery products in Canada’.

“This investment reflects the company’s objective to increase manufacturing efficiencies through scale and technology, and establish dedicated capacity to support new product innovation,” a company spokesperson told BakeryAndSnacks.com.

Besides being the biggest bakery in Canada, the new facility is also said to be ‘among the most efficient’ in North America. The bakery was designed to obtain certification under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) New Construction Program, a green building rating system.

To this end, the bakery incorporates several ‘sustainable’ features, including energy-efficient lighting in the office and factory, a rain water basin to minimise the amount of water consumed for landscaping and grey water uses like toilet flushing, and design features to recapture process heat and recycle energy back into the building and various processes.

The facility will support up to 300 full time jobs and an additional 30 seasonal positions, says Maple Leaf Foods.

With its headquarters in Toronto and employing 21,000 people, Maple Leaf Foods is active across the meat, pasta and sauces, ready meals and bakery categories. While the majority of its sales are to customers within Canada, it is also has operations in the USA, the UK, Asia and Mexico.

Its North American bakery brands include Dempster’s - the leading national brand of fresh bread, Ben’s, POM, Bon Matin, Chevalier and Olafson’s.

This side of the Atlantic Maple Leaf Bakery UK produces bagels, croissants, in-store bakery products and hand-held snacks which are marketed in the UK and Europe. It operates the largest bagel manufacturing facility in the UK and owns the New York Bakery Co. brand.