New Name for Springhill Farms

On April 8, the community gathered to celebrate the re-branding of Hytek and Springhill Farms into HyLife and HyLife Foods. At 12:15, the string was cut and the new sign for HyLife Foods was unveiled.

Guy Baudry, senior vice-president and general manager of Hylife Foods, explained that the two companies, Springhill Farms and Hytek, have “great history” and that the name change is designed to “bring [the two companies] closer together”. Baudry explained , “We’re proud to be a food business.”

Since Hytek purchased the Springhill Farms plant in February 2008, the plant has undergone a number of changes.

When it was purchased, the plant employed 311 people. That number has now grown to 620 employees. Baudry spoke about the strong team they acquired when they purchased the plant and credited the staff for the company’s continued success.

The changes at the plant aren’t done yet and Baudry said that they want to “take [the plant] to the next level”. He explained that they plan to increase processing to 1.4 million hogs/year, a 52 per cent increase from their present level. This will require the addition of a second shift.

Baudry said that the second shift will require about 250 to 300 additional employees and they are hoping to have a second shift going by May 2012. For this to take place, he said, “We need to get going on construction in 2011.”

Baudry explained that 75 per cent of the hogs the plant processes are produced by Hylife, while the remainder come from producers who supplied the plant under its previous ownership. The additional processing capacity is needed to process hogs produced by Hylife (formerly Hytek Ltd.).

The plant’s final products are sold domestically as well as exported to Japan, China, Korea, Russia, Mexico and the United States. Despite the recent problems in Japan, Baudry said that market has remained strong.