Parrish and Heimbecker has secured a funding of $10m from the Canadian government to build a new wheat flour milling plant at Hamilton.
The Canadian grain company’s new plant is expected to increase production capacity of wheat flour besides expanding export markets.
Investment in the new plant is said to help in achieving the Canadian government’s goal of creating job openings in food processing that complement the country’s agricultural sector.
Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay, who announced the investment for the plant, said: “Not only will this new mill use exciting new technologies that will improve consumer confidence in wheat products, but it will support many good paying jobs and help grow the middle class.”
A total of 16 full-time jobs are expected to be created at the Hamilton facility.
Parrish and Heimbecker plans to quadruple its procurement by buying more wheat from producers.
The Hamilton plant will also help in enhancing food safety and traceability of the Parrish and Heimbecker products. It will have a built-in traceability feature to identify specific product batches whenever there is a product recall relating to the company.
When it comes to food safety, the new plant is said to use the latest technology in the wheat cleaning process, which will do an improved job of getting rid of impurities prior to milling.
The Canadian government’s investment has been made through its five-year $698m initiative dubbed as the “Growing Forward 2 AgriInnovation Program”.
Parrish and Heimbecker Milling Group president and COO Derek Jamieson said: “This investment through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's AgriInnovation Fund supports P&H Milling Group's ongoing commitment to food safety, innovation, productivity and quality.
“This project will also enable P&H Milling Group to continue to grow with our customers and support the sustainable growth of the baking industry in Canada."
Earlier this month, the Winnipeg based company announced its partnership with Farmers Edge to increase grower profitability by implementing precision agriculture and big data.
