090126 Canadian Poultry Processor Cuts 300 Jobs

A money-losing eastern Canadian poultry processor has announced 300 job cuts and a permanent plant closure in north-central Nova Scotia.

Ian Blenkharn, chief executive officer of ACA Cooperative Ltd. in Kentville said the group and its Eastern Protein subsidiary lost $6 million in 2008 and was expected to post losses for this year as well, The Chronicle-Herald newspaper in Halifax reported.

The co-op has filed for creditor protection, the newspaper said.

The co-op had a $3.5-million working capital loan approved by the Nova Scotia provincial government last fall, but has yet to receive any of it, the report said.

Economic and Rural Development Minister Murray Scott told the newspaper he requested a meeting with ACA to determine what can be done.

ACA is collectively owned by 63 Nova Scotia poultry producers.

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