Sofina Foods sale delivers business and citizen benefits

Sofina Foods moved out of their old, outdated facility in the inner-city neighbourhood of Ramsay into a new ultramodern, 304,000-square-foot facility on 30 acres in Dufferin North industrial park. The new facility addresses many of the issues the old one faced.

After decades of operating in Calgary's inner-city, with proximity to residential homes, The City bought the Ramsay site to make way for the Green Line LRT. Sofina’s new home provides the perfect location with roads designed for heavy truck traffic and industrial neighbours. The new facility is a massive upgrade compared to the original building in Ramsay and is designed to handle higher production levels. By staying in Calgary, the city kept 500 jobs and the company plans to hire more workers as production increases. It’s a win for the neighbourhood, the company and citizens.

Real Estate and Development Services (RE&DS) spoke with Martin De Rome, Vice President, Operations about the new Dufferin North space and what it means for the company.

It’s ideal for the more than 100 farmers that supply us across the province. The products that come out of this facility are sold to customers across Canada and internationally, and the future site will be easily accessible because it’s close to major transportation networks.

When we’re selecting a site to operate from, we consider a lot of factors, including cost, availability of utilities, accessibility to our customers, suppliers, and employees, as well as land condition and geography. Calgary has:

• a large personnel pool that’s critical to the operations of our plant
• competitive contract companies to support operations through the supply of mechanical, electrical, IT, and millwrighting services
• the utility infrastructure to support our facility now and in the future if the plant expands
• a competitive pool of service suppliers such as tractor and trailer repairs and servicing, landscaping, courier, etcetera
• a municipal government that offers strong support to the agricultural sector

Along with skilled employees––who are essential––our plant will be equipped with significant technology to support our production process.

Waste water reduction: Our on-site water treatment facility will treat all process water to municipal specifications before discharging. The new equipment will reduce water consumption, even with a 50 percent increase in plant capacity. Process water will be collected and reused whenever possible to further reduce use.

Noise reduction: Our entire process will take place inside the facility, which insulates any sounds. And all of our rooftop ventilation equipment will be designed to decrease noise.

Waste management: All waste collection and material storage will be enclosed and managed with the help of a specialized, licensed third-party company.

Odour control: Activated carbon filtration systems will be installed on all exhaust streams that have been identified as odour generators.

Yes. In fact, we chose Dufferin North because it allows for future expansions as our business grows.

We’d like to see equally progressive companies that take pride in their facilities and operations. Our hope is that the park will continue to grow into a multifaceted community that includes complementary industries.

Our relationship with the City’s staff has been positive from the start. The team was quick to understand our needs and work with us to meet mutual requirements. We’ve maintained a collaborative relationship throughout this project and have been able to count on the expertise and support of team members as things moved along.