A Leamington facility will continue to produce products for a household brand.
Kraft Heinz Canada announced Wednesday morning that it has extended its partnership agreement with Highbury Canco through at least the end of 2027.
This means that the products used to produce Heinz ketchup, including the tomato paste, will continue to be processed in Leamington for use at Heinz's ketchup facility in Montreal.
"We’re proud to extend our agreement with Highbury Canco and look forward to continuing to have Kraft Heinz Canada products produced by the talented and hard-working employees at its Leamington facility for another four years," said Kraft Heinz Canada President Simon Laroche. "We’ve built strong local partnerships across Canada, our second largest market globally, for over 100 years, and this new deal signals our continued commitment to being a strong partner to Canadian communities."
Highbury Canco employs over 600 people at its massive Leamington plant, which also produces Heinz beans, Heinz tomato juice, and Classico pasta sauce.
"Extending our partnership with Kraft Heinz Canada for another four years provides significant stability for our facility and for our workforce," said Highbury Canco CEO Sam Diab. "This is a mutually beneficial alliance that is of great significance to the Leamington community, and for all the Canadians that can continue to enjoy Kraft Heinz Canada products being produced at facilities such as ours."
The two companies have estimated that the retail value of the products created in Leamington will exceed $1-billion throughout the partnership extension.