Olymel employees work at the Olymel-owned La Fernandière processing plant in Trois-Rivières in August, 2023.Renaud Philippe/The Globe and Mail
After a tumultuous five-and-a-half years, things were recently looking up for Canada’s largest pork producer.
Last month, Olymel boasted net sales of almost $4.6-billion, the third-best performance in its history. It also increased net earnings by almost 40 per cent. The sales are spread across Olymel’s poultry and pork operations, however the company cited “exceptional improvement” in its pork sector, a part of the business that has faced significant challenges in recent years.
“We have a lot more resilient business,” chief executive officer Yanick Gervais said in an interview in February, when the 2023-2024 financial results were released.
But this resiliency is being put to the test by the possibility of tariffs on two fronts – with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening 25-per-cent tariffs on most Canadian goods as of April 2, and Beijing set to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian pork starting March 20.
The two markets are important for different reasons. Trade with the U.S. is reliable (or at least it used to be), while China imports the parts of the pig no one else wants – the head, feet and bones.
It is a twisted turn of fate for a company finally starting to reap the rewards of a painful transition that began after 2019, when China banned Canadian pork, a move that sparked an industry-wide crisis.
However, tariffs, import bans and volatile pricing are continual realities in global pork production. Those challenges are especially acute in Canada, where national demand is far below production. In 2024, more than 65 per cent of pork produced in Canada was exported.
Reducing exposure to the commodity volatility is Olymel’s ultimate goal. The company’s recent results are a testament to this, said Mr. Gervais. Since 2019, it has diversified trade, boosted efficiencies, streamlined operations, and – above all – is trying to convince Canadians to eat more pork.
The threat of tariffs on two fronts is therefore a trial by fire. And in this chaos hides opportunity, said Mr. Gervais, especially for the Canadian market.
In April, 2023, Olymel announced it had lost more than $400-million over the previous two years on fresh pork.
It was particularly bad news for Quebec, Canada’s largest pork-producing province, where Olymel slaughtered around 80 per cent of the total pigs produced by farmers at the time.
In 2018, the Chinese market was worth $514-million of the $4-billion in total Canadian pork exports, according to Canada Pork. Sales were expected to double in 2019.
But instead, Chinese demand turned volatile. In June, 2019, the country banned pork imports from Canada six months after the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the request of the U.S.
The ban was lifted about five months later. However, China was on the path to self-sufficiency, recovering from the devastating African Swine Flu outbreak and investing in modernized pig farms.
Since a trade dispute with China in 2019, Olymel has maintained lower slaughter capacity. About 90,000 hogs were slaughtered a week in Quebec in 2024, a capacity decrease of 50,000 from before the slaughterhouse closure in 2023.Renaud Philippe/The Globe and Mail
Olymel had to switch its focus from quantity to quality. The future was less pork and commodity trade, and more value-added processing and premium fresh pork, marketed to a broad swath of global markets.
Olymel cut slaughter capacity by 1.5 million pigs per year, a move that culminated in 2023 with the closure of Vallée-Jonction – an employer of almost 1,000 people and the primary processor for the Beauce region, the heart of Quebec’s pork country.
To right size the hog herd, Quebec had to reduce the number of pork farmers in province by 9 per cent. Several closed shop and the buyout cost $80-million, backed by Quebec taxpayers and the union representing pork farmers.
“We did what we had to do,” Mr. Gervais told The Globe and Mail in the summer of 2023. “We stabilized the ship.”
The plan worked, he said recently. And the recent financial results prove it.
Olymel diversified trade, learning from China’s ban in 2019.
“It was a wake-up call,” said Mr. Gervais. “ … We’ll never put all our eggs in the same basket.”
Chinese sales dropped from 31 per cent of total pork exports in 2019 to 13 per cent in 2025 after the company grew its markets in Japan and South Korea.
Olymel has maintained lower slaughter capacity. About 90,000 hogs were slaughtered a week in Quebec in 2024, a capacity decrease of 50,000 from before the slaughterhouse closure in 2023.
Lower grain prices in 2024 also led to a drop in feed costs, a significant cost for farmers.
But now tariffs present a major challenge, said Mr. Gervais.
A 25-per-cent levy imposed by the U.S. would have an effect on the sector at large, leading to a 10-per-cent decrease in hog prices compared to the baseline forecast, according to a recent analysis from Farm Credit Canada, a Crown corporation that provides financing and other services to farmers.
But Olymel’s commitment to trade diversification makes it more resilient. The U.S. market share is around 14 per cent, equivalent to the Philippines and Japan, said Mr. Gervais. Olymel can redistribute sales, and would consider splitting the cost of the levy with long-standing U.S. customers.
China is a more significant problem. Sales are not flexible. Olymel no longer sells primary pork cuts into China, just the byproducts no one else wants.
“We have opportunities to replace the U.S. market,” said spokesperson Stéphanie Couturier. “But with China we cannot do the same.”
On the other hand, the trade war presents some unique opportunities, said Mr. Gervais.
Mr. Trump’s aggressive tariff policies on a number of countries could increase demand for Canadian pork. For example, Mexico is a fast-growing market and the U.S. has also threatened tariffs on its southern neighbour.
Retaliatory tariffs from Ottawa on U.S. pork imports – which went into effect March 4 – could also boost domestic demand.
But beyond this, Canadian consumers are now rethinking food supply, and that’s an opportunity, said Mr. Gervais.
Currently, Canadian demand for pork is consistently below actual consumption, according to the Farm Credit Canada analysis. Canadian consumers are likely to choose pork because it is often cheaper than beef and chicken, not because they have a preference for it.
Olymel must convince Canadians to consume more pork, said Mr. Gervais. It is an everyday staple in households across Asia, and he wants to see the same in a number of Canadian homes. He wants ham on the table at Thanksgiving, Easter and smoking on the BBQ in the summer, he said.
This is a long-term strategy for Olymel. And it is starting to pay dividends.
Olymel is growing its retail presence for launched refrigerated pork products, such as ham, bacon and sausages. Sales have exceeded expectations, said Mr. Gervais, adding that other Olymel-owned brands -Lafleur, La Fernandière, Bilopage – are taking up more shelf space in stores across the country.
Further growth will require diversified, easy-to-cook options, he said, citing marinated products as an example. These kinds of products will be included in a new line launched next month.
Mr. Gervais is wondering whether the current geopolitical climate is somewhat serendipitous. Trade barriers have been an unfortunate part of business over the past five years, and are likely to continue. But this Buy Canadian moment is unique, and perhaps Olymel will be able to seize it.
“The first market for us will always be Canada,” said Mr. Gervais.