Great North Premium Foods Inc. will match $746,000 from the provincial Ontario Small Town and Rural Development fund to transform its facilities from a provincial to a federally inspected plant. Co-owner Steve Waterworth, who has 300 deer on his farm near Lindsay, says the change to a federal meat plant will allow the company to ship to oversees markets.

Premium Foods has partnered with Bergstroms Rocheri, of Sweden, which produces smoked game meats. In the beginning, Premium Foods will send carcasses to Sweden. Some grant money will pay for sending people to Sweden to learn processing techniques. "The company is willing to grow with us," Waterworth says. "We’ll start with a minimum volume of 5,000 animals." Ontario has about 150 deer and elk farms. Most farms are predominantly red deer.

While the plant will continue to process other red meats, Waterworth believes the company’s future growth is in the deer-elk niche.

With specialized processing facilities at the Lindsay plant the industry has the infrastructure to expand. The plant will take in deer and elk from across the province.

The real hook for the Swedish company is potential access to the U.S. market, where Canada, through trade agreements is given special considerations.

The price of deer is potentially high, Waterworth says. In April the price was $2.75/lbs. rail weight.