New Co-Op Facility for Sydney

Co-ops in the Maritimes and parts of Quebec will soon be selling frozen foods processed by Co-op Atlantic at a new flash-freezer facility in Sydney. Today's announcement will save 13 jobs.

The facility will be housed in the Sydney distribution centre. The centre had been used to store dry groceries and was due to close early in 1998 after the co-op began centralizing its services. It remained operational for months as solutions for alternative uses were pursued by the co-operative and the province.

Eric Claus, chief executive office, Co-op Atlantic, and Economic Development and Tourism Minister, Manning MacDonald signed a letter of offer in Sydney today to finance the operation. The province is lending Atlantic Canada's largest co-operative $1,930,000 to facilitate the overhaul of the former warehouse into a state-of-the-art frozen food facility that will distribute over 1,000 items to member co-ops. The facility will be able to process over 400 different items by repackaging frozen bulk products into retail-sized packaging.

"I'm happy that we were able to develop a proposal that benefits both the Sydney staff and Co-op Atlantic, and its members," said Mr. Claus. "The new frozen facility adds new dimension to the services we offer our member co-ops, and means we can provide a
value-added' process to products right here in Nova Scotia. Co-op Atlantic will now be able to offer a more complete service to our members throughout the Maritimes and Quebec."

"This flash-freezing technology for fruit and vegetables allows the 13 employees in the former operation to be retrained and remain employed," said Mr. MacDonald.

"Frozen food is a growth sector in the grocery industry. As the demand in the industry grows, we look forward to the hiring of more people in the Sydney area," said the minister. "Supporting this facility maintains employment, and provides the potential for more jobs in the future. It's also helping the entire Co-op Atlantic to take a giant step into the future."

The economic impact of the construction and maintenance of the former distribution centre will generate $218,000 in business for area suppliers. Present employees will be laid off until renovations are completed in March, 1999.

Co-operatives are owned by members, where the benefits of profit, employment and ownership are kept within the community. There are 308 registered co-operatives in Nova Scotia, which have annual sales of $651 million, 62,000 members, and 3,100 employees. Cape Breton supports 81 of these co-operatives, ranging from grocery to building supplies and consumer services.

Co-op Atlantic is the largest co-operative in the Atlantic Canada region, with 168 member co-operatives and employs 300 Nova Scotians. It joins Scotsburn Co-operative, Farmers Co-operative and ACA Co-op in New Minas on the list of the top 50 co-operatives in Canada.