Potato chip manufacturer eyes Airdrie for new plant

A new snack manufacturing facility in Airdrie is hoping to give some ‘pop’ to the local economy.

Tuesday afternoon, provincial and municipal dignitaries were on hand to announce Super-Pufft Snacks Corporation’s new $50-million facility in the southern Alberta city.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Nate Horner said the new plant will bring more than 100 jobs to the area and support the province’s potato industry.

“I’m most excited because it shows that Alberta has a bright future in the global arena of food production and processing,” Horner said.

Super-Pufft manufactures snacks like potato chips, popcorn and extruded snacks for store private labels across 20 different countries.

The salty snack manufacturer received $250,000 in funding from the federal and provincial government under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to support equipment in the Airdrie facility.

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Super-Pufft’s CEO said the new plant will support western Canada and the western United States and joins their Mississauga, Ont., plant to become their second facility.

“We supply almost each and every retailer and national brand in the country and in the USA,” Yousif Al-Ali, Super-Pufft president and CEO, said.

Al-Ali said potato chips will be the first products to come out of the new plant, but there’s hunger for expansion.

“We already have a plan in place to increase the production capability before we even start,” the Super-Pufft CEO said. “We have a contract with a few customers that we’re looking at reconfiguring their production area and adding much more equipment.”

Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown was “absolutely thrilled” by the announcement and its economic impacts for Alberta’s fifth-largest city.

“We’ve been trying to develop this side of our community for a long time,” Brown said, noting the snack manufacturer was the latest in a series of businesses announcing plans for his municipality.

“We’ve got a local transit system – we’re going to be able to support the workers getting to and from work. And we also have this unbelievable pool of talent that lives in Airdrie and the surrounding communities to support these businesses.”