Screenshot of the facilities on Beretta Farms. (Facebook/Beretta Farms)

By rdnewsNOW staff

provincial help

Lacombe-based Beretta Farms expands facilities with $1.2 million provincial tax credit

Jul 6, 2025 | 8:00 AM

The Alberta government has announced Beretta Farms, a Lacombe-based meat processing facility, as the latest business to qualify for the province’s Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit.

The province says the tax credit attracts investment to help diversify the agriculture industry.

Beretta Farms qualified for the credit of $1.2 million by increasing the size of its existing facility, which is expected to increase production capacity from 29,583 to 44,688 head of cattle per year after the company invested $10.9 million into their operation.

Because of the expansion, the government says they hired 11 new employees and plan to hire 10 more. They also expanded the facility by 10,000 square feet to include new warehousing, cooler space and an office building.

“The Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit is building on Alberta’s existing competitive advantages for agri-food companies and the primary producers that supply them,” said RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, in a press release.

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“This facility expansion will allow Beretta Farms to increase production capacity, which means more Alberta beef across the country, and around the world.”

Meantime, Jennifer Johnson, MLA for Lacombe-Ponoka said the expansion is great news for central Alberta.

“It not only supports local job creation and economic growth but also strengthens Alberta’s global reputation for producing high-quality meat products,” Johson said. “I’m proud to see our government supporting agricultural innovation and investment right here in our community.”

The province says when companies invest over $10 million in a project to build or expand an agri-processing facility in Alberta, they get a 12 per cent non-refundable tax credit.

Beretta Farms’ facility is a federally-registered, European Union-approved harvesting and meat processing facility specializing in the slaughter, processing, packaging and distribution of Canadian and United States cattle and bison meat products to 87 countries worldwide.

“Our recent plant expansion project at our facility in Lacombe has allowed us to increase our processing capacities and add more job opportunities in the central Alberta area,” said Thomas Beretta, plant manager, Beretta Farms.

“With the support and recognition from the Government of Alberta’s tax credit program, we feel we are in a better position to continue our success and have the confidence to grow our meat brands into the future.”

Since 2023, there have been 16 applicants to the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit for projects worth about $1.6 billion in new investment in Alberta’s agri-processing sector. To date, 13 projects have received conditional approval under the program.