Windom pork plant files for bankruptcy ahead of its planned closure

A southwestern Minnesota pork plant slated to soon close and lay off 1,000 workers has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

HyLife Foods Windom filed for federal protection from creditors in Delaware along with two other HyLife subsidiaries, Canwin Farms and Tritek International. Both entities share at least 20% ownership with HyLife's Manitoba-based parent company.

In federal court proceedings, HyLife Windom claimed as many as 999 creditors with between $100 million to $500 million in debts. The plant, which supplies pork to HyLife, Canada's leading pork producer, similarly attested to between $100 million to $500 million in assets, including the sprawling pork plant in Windom.

After paying administrative expenses, the company said, "[n]o funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors."

In an April 27 statement accompanying the bankruptcy announcement, Grant Lazaruk, HyLife CEO, called the decision to close the plant "incredibly hard."

"We purchased the Windom facility in 2020 with the goal of turning operations around and being a part of the community for the long run," Lazaruk said. He blamed the company's financial straits on inflation, high grain costs and exchange rates.

The Delaware court approved HyLife's request to move through the proceedings with the affiliates, Canwin and Tritek International.

"Debtors filed these Chapter 11 cases to pursue a restructuring of their balance sheet and operations and are actively marketing the business and assets to potential going-concern buyers," the company said in a court filing.

The company previously has said worsening conditions in the pork industry necessitated the closure. In further details shared in the April 27 bankruptcy filing, HyLife Windom said it has suffered "significant operating losses over the past approximately two years," stemming from COVID-related disruptions, pork prices and poor foreign exchange rates that dampened export profits.

The court filing also documents more than two-dozen entities that are owed money, including more than $211,000 to an Oklahoma-based janitorial service Qvest, $210,000 to the Cottonwood County auditor and treasurer's office, and $96,000 to St. Paul-based Ecolab.

In April, HyLife announced it would close by the end of May unless a last-minute buyer emerges.