The expansion at Vitalus Nutrition is expected to start this summer
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The B.C. government is making a multimillion-dollar investment in the province’s dairy industry.
Premier David Eby and Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation Minister Brenda Bailey on April 23 announced up to $25 million to support Vitalus Nutrition’s expansion.
This funding will be used to assist the company expand its facility in Abbotsford to 143,500 square feet. That’s the size of almost two FIFA-regulated soccer fields.
Construction at the Mount Lehman Road location is expected to begin this summer.
The larger plant will also allow for more – 50 per cent more – processing capacity, bringing the total to 1.4 billion litres annually. To put that into perspective, an Olympic swimming pool can hold up to 4 million litres of water.
In addition, the expanded facility will support the creation of about 100 jobs, and reduce B.C.’s reliance on products like butter, which is brought in from Eastern Canada.
“Most B.C. dairy farms are local, family-run businesses that provide people with quality products they can enjoy with confidence,” Pam Alexis, B.C.’;s minister of agriculture and food, said in a statement. “This partnership will create more opportunities for B.C. milk products, more economic growth in our farming communities, and strengthen the food security and food-supply system in B.C. and Canada.”
This expansion is Vitalus’s second in about two years.
In August 2022 it received approval for a 99,000-square-foot project.
It also received support from the federal government earlier this year.
On Feb. 5, Ottawa announced $89 million in funding for 49 projects under the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund.
Vitalus received $5 million to “install an automated powder handling and packaging system for the company’s dairy processing activities.”