Building for Food Processing - It’s All in the Details

ASSOCIATE MEMBER PROFILE Building for Food Processing - It’s All in the Details April Jackman, Meat & Poultry Ontario

In October I had the pleasure of speaking with Don Plumstead, owner of Foodcon, a consulting firm that specializes in the design and construction of food processing plants. Foodcon has been serving the meat and poultry processing industry for over 45 years and has a depth of knowledge with both federally and provincially inspected operations.

Established in 1975, Don started his consulting firm when he was asked to make blueprints for a local poultry slaughter plant. At the time he had never worked on a project designing chicken plants, so he started by doing his research and touring other plants to get a deeper understanding regarding the finer details of processing flow and design. After a successful project completion, Don was referred to work on a mechanically separated meat project around the corner and thanks to many referrals from his clients, has been specializing in the food processing sector ever since. They build everything from veggie packing to bakery, but meat further processing Don Plumstead and Kelly Ducharme at the MPO tradeshow facilities have become Foodcon’s forte. downtime during the building phase and has been paramount Located in Brantford Ontario, Foodcon has clients across the country, with the majority based right here in Ontario. The focus of the firm is the design and construction of complicated renovations and additions in operating food plants, paying special attention to details during the planning phase. Careful planning and scheduling of projects equates to reduced to Foodcon’s success (and clients continuing to come back for 30 plus years). A great example of this is the recent expansion and complete interior rebuild of Heidelberg Foods, a project that was completed in 7 phases over the course of 18 months and resulted in only a few days of lost production time during phase transitions. When I asked Don about his approach to design, he said “A food plant is not just a building. It’s a machine with lots of moving parts that must work in harmony. It has to run smoothly in order to reach its full potential. Sanitary design, choosing the right materials, process flow, and learning from previous challenges all factor into our designs.”

Don’s employees all follow the same philosophy of attention to detail and understanding the client’s process. “You have to have a thorough understanding of the client’s operation in order to build for it, so every employee at Foodcon takes food

safety courses in order to be able to think like the clients and their employees.” says Don.

“We are a compact team, but we get it done right the first time. Our team is aligned so there is continuity across every project. Each employee knows all aspects and details of every project, they backcheck each other, and everything is seamless.”

Foodcon’s clients can attest to this, when I reached out to Richard Halenda, who hired Foodcon for a recent renovation, he said “We were in need of expanding our processing plant. Foodcon was an active MPO member so I reached out to Don for consultation on the project. Don quickly recognized that an addition to my existing plant did not make financial sense in the long run. I purchased a much larger building and with Foodcon’s expertise we designed a state-of-the-art facility. Don and his team were a pleasure to work with, I’d recommend them to anyone.”

Foodcon has been a member of MPO since 2015 and believes the organization offers an excellent forum for the exchange of information and contacts. “The trade shows are a great opportunity to connect and learn. I’ve known Daphne for years, even before MPO and she is an amazing resource of technical and food safety knowledge. The Ontario meat industry is fortunate to have an organization with this depth of knowledge.” says Don.

Foodcon Paris Ontario (519) 759-8321 dplumstead@foodcon.com http://www.foodcon.com

Halenda’s new state of the art facility built by Foodcon.