Highbury Canco (Municipality of Leamington, Ontario)

 production, food industry

In 1909 H.J. Heinz decided to expand to Canada and set up manufacturing operations in a factory in Leamington, Ontario. The Leamington operation first started processing pickles, vinegars and beans. In 1910 it produced its first bottle of ketchup and two years later started to make cooked spaghetti.

In 2016, Heinz decided to shut the plant down and relocate operations to Canton, Ohio. This was done at the decision of Heinz owner Warren Buffett. The plant was then sold to Highbury Canco.

Today the plant produces over 480 products including ketchup, condiments and sauces, infant foods,canned beans and pasta, as well as other varieties including tomato juice, pasta sauces and frozen snacks and appetizers. Ketchup is produced at 220 to 300 bottles per minute or 96 million bottles a year. It is the second largest Heinz plant in the World.

The Leamington facility purchases 45 percent of all the processing tomatoes grown in Ontario, or a total of 280,000 tons of tomatoes. It employs a year round work force of 780 and another 380 people are hired for the hectic harvest time. Ketchup constitutes approximately 1/3rd of the value of the products produced at the plant.

The 1.8 million sq. ft. plant contains 1.1 million sq. ft. of manufacturing space and 700,000 sq. ft. of warehousing. The facility consists of nine buildings with 31 fill lines. 253 tomato paste tanks hold up to 7 million gallons of tomato paste.


Website: www.highburycorp.com/
Address: 148 Erie Street South
Phone: 1-519-322-1288 (formerly 519-326-5701)
Postal Code N8H 0C3 (formerly N8H 3W8 )
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/HighburyCanco