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The CFC on Wednesday stressed the decision is meant to address the issue of having too much unsold chicken because of the food-service shutdown.

“It’s a question of finding the most efficient way to give everyone the flexibility to meet the demand, while navigating a brand new situation,” spokesperson Lisa Bishop-Spencer said in an email.

Quebec-based poultry and pork processing giant Olymel LP this week said it does not expect recent complications in processing to lead to a meat shortage.

In late March, the company closed its slaughterhouse and processing facility in Yamachiche, Que., where roughly 120 employees have tested positive for COVID-19, the company said. The plant reopened on Tuesday, running at a temporarily reduced capacity of 3,000 to 4,000 hogs per week, instead of the regular 28,000 hogs per week, a spokesperson said.

I can't foresee the day where we will have a shortage of meat for the Canadian consumer Olymel's senior vice-president of sales and marketing

Eight of Olymel’s 37 Canadian facilities have confirmed employee cases of COVID-19.

“I can’t foresee the day where we will have a shortage of meat for the Canadian consumer,” Richard Davies, Olymel’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing, said. “We’d be in a scenario where we would have massive culling, massive plant closures, massive this, massive that. When I look at Europe, which is dealing with COVID-19 on a much bigger scale … I’ve yet to see any culling. And I have yet to see any significant reduction in slaughter.”

Olymel has been clear with Canadian supermarkets that it will always prioritize its domestic clients over export markets, Davies said. Though he was confident about the future, Olymel has seen already seen significant complications so far.