Wendy's across Western Canada to be supplied with beef from Brooks JBS plant. Deutschlandreform/Dreamstime.com

By Jayk Sterkenburg

BUSINESS

‘Where’s the beef?’: Wendy’s across western Canada to be supplied by Brooks’ own JBS

Nov 18, 2024 | 4:14 PM

JBS Foods Canada invested $90 million into its meat processing plant located in Brooks, Alta., in July of this year.

The Alberta government has since provided a $10.7 million tax credit towards the expansion of the new processing line at the plant.

All of this expansion wasn’t for nothing, as the plant in Brooks is now assigned with supplying Wendy’s restaurants across all of western Canada with their hamburger patties.

John Petrie, mayor of Brooks, is eager for his city to be such a proponent in the supply of beef across the country.

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“It means they have faith in the community of Brooks, the city of Brooks, and in their plant, but there’s other implications too,” he said.

“I think it’s really good for the Canadian cattle industry because they’re making the burgers out of Canadian beef, which is really good. Plus, the other positive story is Wendy’s themselves,” he added.

“I’m thankful, you know, that Wendy’s has taken this and embraced this so we can have Canadian beef at all their Wendy’s restaurants right across Canada there, too.”

Petrie said that in any industry, new ways of increasing revenue are consistently being searched for.

The opportunity that has been granted to the meat processing plant could greatly increase the agriculture industry in Alberta.

Additional to the expansion also benefiting JBS as a supplier, it will create even more jobs within the Brooks plant which already accommodates thousands of Albertans.

“The JBS plant, they employ 3,000 people. They’re obviously one of the biggest employers in southeast Alberta,” he said.

“And they have an annual payroll of probably about $145 to $150 million, which comes back into the community,” he added.

“And a GDP, I think, of about $1.3 billion, for the entire province of Alberta there. So they’re a big business and we benefit from them here in the City of Brooks,”

The investment JBS has made for its plant in Brooks will in turn positively affect the Canadian cattle and trucking industries, among others.