Maple Leaf Foods Lays Groundwork for Transformational Year Ahead

MISSISSAUGA, ON,  - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. ("Maple Leaf Foods" or the "Company") (TSX: MFI), an iconic Canadian protein company, announced today updates on its outlook for 2025, completion of the initial phase of restructuring initiatives to reduce costs and maximize the Company's potential, and advancement of the planned spin-out of Canada Packers, all contributing to momentum for a transformative year ahead.

"This year will be a significant year of strategic transformation and financial progress for Maple Leaf Foods," said Curtis Frank, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maple Leaf Foods. "Our growth strategies have proven to be resilient and successful even in the most challenging conditions, our capital projects are exiting 2024 contributing expected benefits, market conditions and consumer behaviour are recovering as anticipated, and we recently completed the first phase of our Fuel for Growth cost competitiveness initiatives, all of which we expect will underpin a meaningful improvement in profitable growth and the ongoing de-leveraging of our balance sheet."

The Company's recently approved 2025 operating plan highlighted core elements of this transformational year, including:

• Revenue growth of mid-single digits driven by execution of the Company's proven growth strategies.
• Significant year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA improvements driven by the full benefits of capital investments, excellence in brand and revenue management, recent restructuring and supply chain cost saving initiatives and the return of normalized market conditions.
• Continued deleveraging of the balance sheet driven by strong free cash flow from operations.
• Completion of the spin-out of Canada Packers.
• Further optimizing performance through a refocused organizational structure.

"Maple Leaf Foods has demonstrated its ability to outperform our peers in both top and bottom-line performance," continued Mr. Frank. "We expect this trend to accelerate in 2025 as our long-term strategies and focus yield clear and measurable results."