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| The Mossbank Noodle Factory abandoned and unkept |
by David Fraser
A province full of gold, Saskatchewan can seemingly always trust the wealth seeded in wheat.
Traditionally in Saskatchewan, politicians and farmers alike harvest as much as they can from the staple crop. With a history of experimenting in the pasta production business (city-dweller translation: pasta comes from durum, durum comes from wheat), the Stephen Harper Conservatives were happy to announce a $50-million multi-purpose durum wheat and pulse milling factory in Regina on Oct. 7, 2011. The factory is set to create 150 construction jobs and 60 permanent jobs.
For some, though, the pasta-nouncement had a flavour of nostalgia. An hour-and-a-half southwest of Regina, past endless horizons of Saskatchewan’s confident wheat, lies a town with yielded ambitions.
In Mossbank, Sask. a noodle factory was opened in 1979. The factory was supposed to help move the town into the future. Instead, it was left in the past, and now sits vacant.
After five different owners, three unstable labels and a consecutive run-time of only three months, the factory finally shut its doors forever in the early 2000s.
Wearing a plaid work shirt and a bright yellow Signal hat, Rick Rollie sits across from me in his crowded office scattered with papers and tools. Rollie, who would become one of the managers at the plant, explains how Mossbank’s tumultuous years of the plant affected the town of just under 500 in a big way. “For a small town, when you can employ 14 people, it hurts the community some, because that’s extra money in the community,” says Rollie.
Down the road from the maintenance shop is the Empress Hotel, far away, by small town standards, from the noodle plant. Drinking a beer inside is Lloyd Kawloski. Kawloski saw first-hand the failure of Mossbank’s plant. When the factory shut down, the shareholders - mostly Mossbank citizens – were the ones who paid the price. Lloyd guessed that 80 to100 people invested in the plant, including a few wealthier Mossbankers who had the money to risk. “All the shareholders got nothing, because the future (final) buyer didn’t care about the debt. He just got the building,” Kawloski says.
The last owner had a noodle factory in Montreal, so all the factory's equipment was shipped there. It’s companies like that one, as well as the other pasta producers in Canada, that the new Regina plant will have to compete against. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver house Canada’s current pasta-makers.
Alliance Grain Traders, the company building the factory, now faces the challenge of entering the pasta market with Regina’s plant. President and CEO of Alliance Grain Traders Murad Al-Katib has become a lead-horse in world trading of grain by placing his bets on pulse crops and canola in the past half decade.
With the government’s controversial decision to lift the reins of the free market on King Wheat, Al-Katib’s pasta and pulse milling factory might boil up a feast of success - but only time will tell.
Down the road from the maintenance shop is the Empress Hotel, far away, by small town standards, from the noodle plant. Drinking a beer inside is Lloyd Kawloski. Kawloski saw first-hand the failure of Mossbank’s plant. When the factory shut down, the shareholders - mostly Mossbank citizens – were the ones who paid the price. Lloyd guessed that 80 to100 people invested in the plant, including a few wealthier Mossbankers who had the money to risk. “All the shareholders got nothing, because the future (final) buyer didn’t care about the debt. He just got the building,” Kawloski says.
The last owner had a noodle factory in Montreal, so all the factory's equipment was shipped there. It’s companies like that one, as well as the other pasta producers in Canada, that the new Regina plant will have to compete against. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver house Canada’s current pasta-makers.
Alliance Grain Traders, the company building the factory, now faces the challenge of entering the pasta market with Regina’s plant. President and CEO of Alliance Grain Traders Murad Al-Katib has become a lead-horse in world trading of grain by placing his bets on pulse crops and canola in the past half decade.
With the government’s controversial decision to lift the reins of the free market on King Wheat, Al-Katib’s pasta and pulse milling factory might boil up a feast of success - but only time will tell.
According to media reports, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, and Alliance CEO Al-Katib have all said the imminent abolition of the Canadian Wheat Board will help make the factory a success.
Remi Gosselin of Canadian Grain Commissions isn’t so sure. “(The Wheat Board) has nothing to do with it. They still have to buy durum and turn it into pasta,” he says. “It’s the market that will make the difference. The process that the company building the plant has set up, logistics, and marketing opportunities.”
The market Alliance Grain Traders face is in some ways more favourable than the one Mossbank saw. Pasta consumption in Canada has grown, but by no means rapidly. Canadians consume 6.5 kg of pasta per capita, and that number is expected to heat up with the increase of immigrants from Asian countries who are traditionally heavy noodle-consumers.
Remi Gosselin of Canadian Grain Commissions isn’t so sure. “(The Wheat Board) has nothing to do with it. They still have to buy durum and turn it into pasta,” he says. “It’s the market that will make the difference. The process that the company building the plant has set up, logistics, and marketing opportunities.”
The market Alliance Grain Traders face is in some ways more favourable than the one Mossbank saw. Pasta consumption in Canada has grown, but by no means rapidly. Canadians consume 6.5 kg of pasta per capita, and that number is expected to heat up with the increase of immigrants from Asian countries who are traditionally heavy noodle-consumers.
Canada is still a net importer of pasta. If Alliance plans to sell domestically, established Canadian companies and international pasta heavyweights like the 134-year-old Barilla will be barriers to the market that they will have to overcome.
Exporting pasta is possible, but many world markets are suffering right now. In 2006, Italy was Canada’s largest importer of durum wheat. In 2011, Italy is 2 trillion euros in debt.
Exporting pasta is possible, but many world markets are suffering right now. In 2006, Italy was Canada’s largest importer of durum wheat. In 2011, Italy is 2 trillion euros in debt.
Trade talks between the European Union and Canada have taken place a number of times this year. Eurozone counties, like Italy and Greece, have many considering completely restructuring the chaotic current state of the EU. Financial advisors have gone on the record to state that exposing Canadian investors to these markets could be ominous.
The Asian-Pacific route might be an option, too. Stephen Harper is currently negotiating a free-trade agreement with Asian-Pacific countries. Countries like South Korea, counting in with debt over two times its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Included in those talks is the United States, who is also currently experiencing high debt numbers. The market for pasta in these countries is present – but economically they aren’t strong right now.
With a decaying roof and cultivated weeds, Mossbank’s once treasured idea of success now rests on the edge of town- abandoned on the Sea of Saskatchewan’s golden coast.Mossbank might have a glimmer of a lesson in it, though. If history is to teach Saskatchewan anything, it might be to remember that when you’re surrounded by gold, you might not always harvest the riches.
what day did it start
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