990810 Fletcher's Expanding Harvest Meats FacilityAugust 4, 1999Vancouver, British Columbia - Fletcher's Fine Foods Ltd. announced that it is proceeding with the expansion of its Harvest Meats facility in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The project will result in 48,000 square feet of additional production and distribution space and will create up to 70 permanent full time jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin immediately. “This project will double the capacity of Harvest's Yorkton plant and will allow for the continued growth of our various lines of premium branded processed meats,” said Fred Knoedler, President and CEO. “Over the last ten years we have established the Harvest brand as the leading premium smoked sausage brand in Western Canada,” said Walter Bauer, Harvest's Co-President and Director of Marketing. “This expansion will eliminate our existing capacity problems and allow us to start aggressively expanding into Eastern Canada and the US Midwest,” added Bauer. “We are delighted about Fletcher's additional investment in the Harvest plant. It will not only provide us with much needed capacity, but will also enable us to further refine our production lines to capture additional efficiencies,” said Kenn Propp, Harvest's Co-President and General Manager. “When this expansion is completed next spring, Harvest will have one of the most efficient plants of its kind in Canada,” added Propp. “Our acquisition of Harvest in January 1998 provided us with our first plant east of Alberta,” said Knoedler. “We have been very pleased with the business environment created by the Province of Saskatchewan in general and the City of Yorkton in particular and look forward to continuing to grow our presence in Saskatchewan,” added Knoedler. Fletcher's has been engaged in the food processing business since 1917 and has manufacturing facilities in Alberta, British Columbia, Oregon, Saskatchewan and Washington. In addition, Fletcher's holds an interest in three manufacturing facilities located in Ontario. Statements in this press release, and elsewhere, that look forward in time or include anything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's actual results of operations. Those risks and uncertainties are discussed in more detail in the Company's periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. CONTACT: George Paleologou, V.P. & CFO, or Greg Whalley, V.P.-Corporate Affairs, both of Fletcher's Fine Foods, 604-668-5800; or Walter Bauer, Co- President and Director of Sales, or Kenn Propp, Co-President and General Manager, both of Harvest Meats, 306-783-9446.
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