BRAMPTON, ON (July 15, 2022) – The City of Brampton received top honours with a first place ranking in the Food Processing Leaders category in the Business Facilities Magazine 18th Annual Metro Rankings Report. This is the third consecutive year the City has been recognized with this ranking.
Brampton received top recognition for a pilot program launched in fall 2021 to expand the workforce pipeline for the food processing industry. Other factors that contributed to the ranking are employment, expansions and programs for the industry. The full 2021 Rankings Report can be found at www.businessfacilities.com.
As part of Ontario’s Food Cluster, one of North America’s largest Agri-Food sectors, Brampton has a thriving food and beverage sector supported by industry-leading technology, top-quality products, and a rich agricultural tradition. Brampton’s food and beverage sector is a one-stop shop complete with food testing, processing and packaging facilities as well as transportation, packaging design, equipment and refrigeration storage, all within the city.
Brampton’s food and beverage sectors contribute $1.3 billion annually to the Canadian GDP. 8,500 people are employed by approximately 300 companies in food and beverage manufacturing, processing and support industries.
Top employers in the food and beverage sector in Brampton include headquarters for Loblaws, Maple Lodge and Italpasta. Additionally, key employers like Coca-Cola Bottling and Give and Go Prepared Foods have facilities in Brampton. All of these companies have strategically positioned themselves within Brampton to take advantage of the city’s talent, infrastructure and market access.
Recently, Toppits Food Ltd. announced the expansion of food production capabilities and the purchase and installation of new seafood processing and freezing equipment at its new Brampton facility. This will help create 60 new jobs within the Brampton region, double domestic production capacity and lay the foundation for future growth.
Maple Leaf Food has also made significant investment in the Brampton community in 2021, with the investment of $80 million for a new line and equipment, and added 140 hourly jobs and 54 salaried jobs.
For more on Brampton’s Food and Beverage sector, visit www.investbrampton.ca.
Quotes
“The City of Brampton is proud to receive a first place ranking from Business Facilities Magazine as a Food Processing Leader for the third consecutive year. This ranking is a testament to the excellent work our Food and Beverage Processing businesses are doing, and also to our Economic Development team who support them. With its industry-leading technology, top-quality products and rich agricultural tradition, Brampton is indeed an industry leader in the food and beverage sector.”
- Patrick Brown, Mayor, City of Brampton
“To be recognized for the third consecutive year in Business Facilities Magazine’s Annual Metro Rankings Report as #1 in the Food Processing Leaders category is a testament to our dedicated Economic Development team as well as all the industry businesses and their workers. With a focus on business retention and expansion, the City is working to bring new businesses to Brampton, while supporting our amazing existing businesses in the food and beverage sector.”
- Martin Medeiros, Regional Councillor, Wards 3 & 4; Chair, Economic Development, City of Brampton
“Our team at the City of Brampton is dedicated to supporting our business community – the backbone of our community – in every way we can. We are proud to have the efforts of our Food and Beverage sector – and our dedicated Economic Development team – recognized for the third consecutive year with a #1 ranking from Business Facilities Magazine.”
– Paul Morrison, Interim Chief Administrative Officer, City of Brampton