Golden Ontario outside of Mount Forest has officially announced its deal with China to export meat products.
Majority owner Nancy Kingsley-Hu says it’s been a long five-year process to obtain the licensing, but now that it’s official, it’s an exciting opportunity to take advantage of a largely untapped market.
"I used to live in China, I was in Shanghai, and I was a trader and I was working with some people and we decided that we wanted to export beef into China," she says. "I spent the last five years going through a lot of regulatory issues trying to get that to happen."
Perth Wellington MP John Nater was in attendance for the ribbon cutting at Golden Ontario on Friday as well, and he notes that the upcoming expansion due to the new deal with China to export meat products there will see a big growth in local employment.
"This is good news for the company itself, but also good news for the community. This is a great opportunity for added employment, and also rural economic development, which is so important for these communities to have the opportunity to expand into foreign markets and do a great job expanding our economy locally."
Kingsley-Hu says the expansion and new jobs created is something she envisioned all along.
"That was my goal in the first place. I'm originally from Goderich, Ontario," she says. "My goal with buying this plant was to give something back because I was from Goderich and used to be in the financial industry, so I knew things about trade deficits. So I wanted to be able to send something to China that they would want instead of always having things coming here."
With the expansion of the existing facility doubling to over 40,000 sq ft, the Golden Ontario facility will jump from around 30 employees to over 100, with possible expansion on the West Coast as well.
Kingsley-Hu says hopefully by next year there will be shovels in the ground to begin the expansion.
Golden Ontario Products majority owner Nancy Kingsley-Hu (middle in red) is joined by Perth-Wellington MP John Nater alongside employees and county staff, to cut the ribbon celebrating the new export deal with China, that will see Golden Ontario ship beef to the largely untapped Asian market. The facility will be doubling in size to 40,000 square feet next year to accommodate a workforce that will go from roughly 30 to over 100. October 20th, 2017 (Photo by Ryan Drury)
