Maple Leaf Foods Increases Pre-Cooked Bacon Capacity Through Creation of Bacon Centre of Excellence at Winnipeg Plant

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Oct 05, 2021, 07:30 ET

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Oct. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSX: MFI) ("Maple Leaf" or the "Company") today announced that it has completed construction of a $182 million expansion to its Winnipeg prepared meats plant, significantly increasing its bacon production capacity with new in-house capacity for pre-cooked, microwaveable bacon.

This investment in new state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and cultivated in-house expertise represents a Bacon Centre of Excellence within Maple Leaf and positions the company to meet the growing customer and consumer demand in the pre-cooked bacon market and drive innovation. The project is one of the many investments the Company has been making as it continues to unlock value in its growing prepared meats business.

Final commissioning of the 73,000 square-foot expansion at the Lagimodiere Boulevard site in Winnipeg is expected to be completed in the near term, with commercial production ramping up over the course of the coming months. By building this capacity in-house, this plant will become the Company's primary pre-cooked bacon production facility. As part of the expansion, the Company is in the process of adding approximately 350 new positions at the plant, bringing total plant employment to over 1,900 people.

"We are very excited to see this project come to life," said Michael H McCain, President and CEO. "Our vision to become the most sustainable protein company on earth applies even to our very best convenience food, which includes delicious pre-cooked bacon. This state-of-the-art facility will deliver sustainably made cooked bacon products from meat humanely raised and without antibiotics, made by a carbon neutral company. We are really proud of this."

Maple Leaf Foods is a leading Canadian bacon producer with eight brands in the Canadian market, and almost half of Canadian households have purchased a Maple Leaf Foods bacon product in 2021.¹

About Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. ("Maple Leaf Foods") is a carbon neutral company with a vision to be the most sustainable protein company on earth, responsibly producing food products under leading brands including Maple Leaf^®, Maple Leaf Prime^®, Maple Leaf Natural Selections^®, Schneiders^®, Schneiders^®Country Naturals^®, Mina^®, Greenfield Natural Meat Co.^®, Lightlife^®and Field Roast™. Maple Leaf Foods employs approximately 13,500 people and does business in Canada, the U.S. and Asia. The company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, and its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MFI).

Forward Looking Statements Disclaimer

This news release includes "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "plan", "intend", "believe", and similar words or expressions, including the negatives or variations thereof. All forward-looking information reflects Maple Leaf Foods' beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the applicable forward-information is made and in light of its current expectations.

Forward-looking information does not guarantee future performance. Management believes that its assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information contained herein are reasonable based on the information available on the date such information is provided and the process used to prepare the information. However, Maple Leaf Foods cannot provide assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct. All forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Readers should not unduly rely on forward-looking information and are cautioned that the forward-looking information contained herein may not be appropriate for other purposes. Unless required by law, Maple Leaf Foods does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Further information about the factors affecting forward-looking information and management's assumptions and analysis thereof, is available in filings made by Maple Leaf Foods with Canadian securities commissions available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

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¹ Numerator Insights Shopper Metrics Total Corp MLF Total Bacon purchased at any store during the 01/0/2021 to 9/12/2021

SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc.