The site will be used for milling wheat and pulses for the production of the firm’s Arbella pasta brand in Canada. Construction is expected to begin in 2012.
Canada a logical choice
Omer Al-Katib, investor relations at Alliance Grain Traders, told BakeryAndSnacks.com: “Canada is a major grower of germ wheat which is the main ingredient in the construction of pasta. It helps us to get the raw ingredient needed to process pasta.”
“With our strong Canadian base built over the past decade, Western Canada was a logical choice for out new processing complex,” he said.
The facility will be built in a new 2,000 acre Global Transportation Hub (GTH) in the city of Regina, Canada.
Al-Katib said: “The GTH will provide a competitive freight advantage for us that makes this a sensible investment.”
Huseyin Arslan, executive chairman of the board of directors for AGT added in a release: “We have built a successful global pasta business based out of our production facilities in Turkey. With the good conditions in Canada, we feel that significant opportunities exist to expand our operations here."
“Our relationships with growers in Western Canada and our relationships with our international customers we sell to everyday create opportunities and synergies that we feel may be realised through this investment,” he continued.
South African acquisition
Alliance Grain Traders also acquired an 82% controlling interest in South African based supplier Advance Seed and its subsidiary Pouyoukas for CDN $7m (€5m) earlier this month, expanding its capacity further.
The company said it hopes to capitalise on strong consumption on the African continent and plans to make use of Advance Seeds’ established packaging contracts.