Ontario construction News staff writer
Odd Burger Corporation has purchased land in London to build a new 50,000 sq. ft. food manufacturing facility.
Council approved the sale of the city-owned 5.5 acre parcel of land located on Innovation Drive, an Industrial Park created to attract innovative and sustainable manufacturing businesses to the region. The site is fully serviced by municipal services including water, sewage, storm drainage and has access to electricity and natural gas utilities. The land will initially house a 50,000 sq.-ft. building, but can be expanded to nearly 150,000 sq. ft. to increase manufacturing capacity.
The new facility is expected to be operated by Odd Burger’s food technology and manufacturing subsidiary, Preposterous Foods Inc., and produce a line of innovative plant-based proteins and dairy-free sauces.
“We are thrilled to commence this next chapter of growth for our company and we believe that London is the best place in the world to execute our vision for a more sustainable future,” said James McInnes, co-founder and CEO of Odd Burger.
“We will be creating one of Canada’s most advanced plant-based food manufacturing facilities and we believe that through this investment we will be able to make a tremendous change in the industry by creating more affordable, healthy and sustainable food.”
Increased capacity would allow Preposterous Foods to support hundreds of Odd Burger franchised restaurant locations across North America, as well as supply select products to external food service customers.
Odd Burger worked with the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) to secure the Land Purchase Agreement from the City of London and will continue this partnership throughout the construction process as well as into the operational phase of the facility.
“Odd Burger is an innovative addition to our thriving proteins cluster in London,” said Kapil Lakhotia, president and CEO of LEDC. “Our industrial lands, infrastructure, talent and supply chains continue to put London on the radar for sustainable food production and plant-based proteins development.”
Preposterous Foods has engaged Mallot Creek Group Inc. for plant design and equipment specifications, as well as process engineering.
Construction will begin as soon as permits are approved and last one to two years.
Odd Burger plans to open 36 locations in Alberta and British Columbia over the next seven years and 40 in Ontario over eight years.