More than $800,000 in bonuses awarded under Signature™ Pork program

St. Marys, Ontario - Maple Leaf Foods is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Signature™ Pork Awards, presented last night at the Company’s annual barbecue in St. Marys, Ontario. The celebration also honoured 187 Signature™ Plus producers with more than $800,000 in bonus cheques.

Signature ™ Pork is a key component of Maple Leaf’s system of vertical coordination for modern pork production. The Signature™ Pork program establishes partnerships among producers, Maple Leaf Pork and Shur-Gain to build value across the entire pork value chain, enhancing quality and efficiency and delivering value-added products to consumers. Since the launch of the program in 1996, Maple Leaf has awarded more than $3 million in bonuses.

“Signature™ Pork producers supply Maple Leaf with top quality hogs,” said Michael H. McCain, president and CEO, Maple Leaf Foods. “It’s because of these producer partnerships, our coordinated system and the investments we have made in product innovation, research and technology, that consumers continue to trust Maple Leaf to deliver the highest quality products.”

 

This year, two new awards were presented to producers. The “Best Tattoo” and “Healthy Hog” awards were introduced, reflecting Maple Leaf’s focus on traceability and providing safe and quality products to its customers.
Signature ™ 2002 Awards and Recipients   Healthy Hog Award (lowest percentage of condemned hogs at the plant)

 

 

Winner:                        Harry Van Roessel

 

Runner Up:                   Franz Arnold

 

Best Tattoo Award (highest percentage of perfect tattoo)   

 

Winner (tied):               Jim Debrouwer, Troy Valley Farms

Winner (tied):               Dave and Gerard Vandewalle

 

Most Meat Award (highest lean meat percentage)

Winner:                        Philip Anwender

Runner Up:                   Poppe Farms Ltd.
 

Right Weight Award (percentage of hogs within 85 to 95 kg weight range) Winner:                        Kees Rijnen

 

Runner Up:                   Matt Rijnen
 

Largest Loin Award (mm)

Winner:                        Jay Shackelton

Runner Up:                   Harold Good
Highest Index Award (percentage on grid

Winner:                        George Wienecke, Wienecke Farms

Runner Up:                   Ted and Darlene Koot

Shur-Gain is Canada’s leading feed company with 16 feed mills in Eastern Canada and the U.S.A. and a strong dealer franchise system serving livestock producers. For more than 60 years, Shur-Gain has supported its feed products through active research and development in the areas of nutrition, health and feed quality.

 

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading Canadian food processing company committed to delivering quality food products to consumers around the world. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the Company employs more than 14,000 people at its operations across Canada and in the United States, Europe and Asia.  Maple Leaf Foods had sales of $4.7 billion in 2001.