Chocolate and confectionery giant Ferrero’s Canada unit will be financially supported by the Ontario government in its C$90m ($72.31m) expansion project that is aimed at boosting productivity of an existing plant.
The provincial government will invest C$11m ($8.84m) in Ferrero Canada’s project in Brantford through its Food and Beverage Growth Fund under the C$2.7bn ($2.17bn) Jobs and Prosperity Fund.
Through the investment, Ferrero Canada will construct a new cocoa bean processing plant and grow the manufacturing capacity for Nutella & Go. It will also implement new processes to manufacture new Tic Tac products and install a wastewater treatment system.
Currently, the Brantford plant manufactures Nutella, Nutella & Go, Tic Tac and Ferrero Rocher products.
Ferrero Canada managing director Fabrizio Secco said: “All these investments represent in an excellent way our industrial footprint, based on quality, innovation and efficiency.
“These projects are enabling us to create new jobs in our facility and also externally through our suppliers and partners within Brantford and the surrounding area.”
Secco also revealed that the Brantford facility will become the first non-European Ferrero plant to process raw cocoa beans and to manufacture the new Tic Tac Gum for North America.
According to the Ontario government, the expansion project at Brantford will result in 80 new jobs while safeguarding over 1,000 jobs across the province.
Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Jeff Leal said: “Our government is committed to helping create and keep good jobs in our rural communities.
“By partnering with food processing companies like Ferrero Canada, we are not only supporting growth in Ontario’s agri-food sector, we are boosting our economy and creating 80 good jobs in the Brantford community.”
