As many as 20 people will be out of work, and local restaurants and grocery stores will face a new ordering process, after Albion Farms & Fisheries shuts down its Victoria distribution centre.
The company said the decision to close the 740 Tyee Rd. centre on Oct. 28 is about making its business more efficient.
“The goal is to streamline our distribution capabilities while removing any non-productive redundancy,” said Danny Ransom, Albion’s general manager.
“Our customer surveys have told us that they want to have a complete protein solution on one truck. This is the next step in the evolution of our food service offerings.”
As of the end of October, Albion will distribute meat and seafood to its 150 Island customers from its Richmond location.
Albion is also instituting a noon order deadline for Island customers, and the current six-day delivery schedule will be cut back to five days a week.
Albion also intends to start using Island-based Coldstar Solutions to help distribute food on the Island. But its current fleet of vehicles will be maintained.
The company said all of its sales staff, who currently work out of Richmond, will continue to represent Island customers.
As for the workers affected by the shutdown, Ransom said the company intends to help employees transition to new employment or retirement.
According to the company, the affected Victoria employees are primarily operations workers involved in receiving, processing and shipping.
