Maple Leaf Foods invests $100K in Manitoba surplus food distribution centre

Who: Maple Leaf Foods

What: The company has invested $100,000 in Harvest Manitoba’s Manitoba Food Transformation Centre.

The planned facility will support the organization’s efforts to recover and process surplus food for distribution to communities across the province.

At the centre, food will be processed into practical, nutritious products that Harvest can distribute through its network of more than 400 food banks and community organizations.

It will also create a permanent home for Harvest’s Warehouse Training Program, which provides training and employment support for Manitobans facing barriers to employment.

“The Manitoba Food Transformation Centre will strengthen Harvest Manitoba's capacity to provide emergency food assistance while expanding workforce development initiatives, including the Warehouse Training Program. These programs help participants build skills and access better employment opportunities, addressing a key root cause of food insecurity: inadequate financial resources,” said Sarah Stern, director, community involvement at Maple Leaf Foods, in a press release.

Harvest is pursuing support from multiple levels of government, private-sector partners and the public to fund the Manitoba Food Transformation Centre. 

The organization is currently selecting a site for the centre, which is expected to be fully operational in 2028.