Kraft Heinz Canada to restart ketchup production in Montreal

Kraft Heinz Canada has announced that it will restart production of Heinz Ketchup at its Mont Royal factory in Montreal.

The facility was closed by Kraft Heinz in 2014 as part of its corporate restructuring programme.

Kraft Heinz Canada president Bruno Keller said: “Kraft Heinz Canada is pleased to partner with the Quebec Government on this investment in bringing ketchup production back to Canada from the US.

“Through our partnership with Quebec and increased efficiencies at our Mont Royal facility, it became possible to return this iconic product back to Canada for Canadians at this time.”

The facility is expected to become operational next year.

Once operational, the Montreal manufacturing plant is expected to produce more than 100Mlb of Heinz Ketchup for Canadian consumers within the first two years of operation.

The project is a joint investment between Kraft Heinz Canada and the Government of Quebec’s business expansion programme.

It is reported that that the project has been initiated with a C$17m ($13m) investment in the company’s Mont Royal facility.

The province is said to have agreed to provide a C$2m forgivable loan for the project under its business expansion programme.

The project will create 30 new employment opportunities while supporting nearly 750 at the Mont Royal facility.

In November 2018, Kraft Heinz signed a definitive agreement to divest its Canadian natural cheese business to Parmalat for C$1.62bn ($1.23bn).

The transaction included natural cheese brands such as Cracker Barrel, P’tit Quebec and aMOOza in Canada.

Kraft Heinz Canada also agreed to sell its production facility at Ingleside, Ontario, and transfer 400 employees to Parmalat.