Dear Fellow Shareholders:
In September 2010 the Board of Directors of Maple Leaf Foods approved a comprehensive plan that we believe will create significant near- and longer-term value. This plan is the culmination of two years of thorough planning and analysis. It builds on Maple Leaf’s success over the past decade in consolidating leading market positions in the Canadian value-added meat and bakery industries and is designed to ensure we are competitive with a parity Canadian dollar. In short, it defines the Company’s long-term success and maximizes sustainable return to shareholders.

It’s still early days, but so far all signs are positive. Management has delivered seven consecutive quarters of improving financial results since the tragic events of 2008 and the plan’s early-stage initiatives are well underway and on track.

The Board will continue to monitor Management’s execution against the plan and will consider each major capital investment on its merits and according to the progress made against our targets as we move through the plan.

Strong governance is an important factor in ensuring the Company delivers on its earnings targets and commitments to shareholders. In 2010, there were a number of substantive changes to the composition of our shareholder base and of our Board of Directors. As a result, the board initiated a review of governance processes and structure to ensure the Board reflects these changes.

As part of this process, James Hankinson and Claude Lamoureux of the Corporate Governance Committee, met with many of our large shareholders to hear their views on our value creation plan and governance process. In early January, we retained a global search firm to identify a strong candidate for independent director to stand for nomination at the 2010 Annual General Meeting.

More recently, we also appointed Gregory Boland, CEO of West Face Capital, which currently holds an 11.4% ownership position in Maple Leaf, to the Board of Directors. Mr. Boland’s appointment helps ensure Maple Leaf will continue to benefit from the perspective and experience of a significant shareholder.

This type of positive renewal has been active and ongoing at the Maple Leaf Board for the past several years. Since 2007, we have recruited three new independent directors – including Geoffrey Beattie, John Bragg and Claude Lamoureux – bringing considerable new skills and perspectives to the Board.

The directors also have direct access and involvement with leaders in the business, both through their participation at Board meetings and through an innovative program called Board Connect, with each director spending a day a year in one of the Company’s businesses, where they get direct insights into our Company and engagement with our people. This initiative has been recognized as a pioneering effort to give directors greater understanding of the business at a deeper level, and unfettered access to operating management and their teams.

I would like to thank our Board of Directors, who in the past year have demonstrated continued passion and conviction to do what is right for Maple Leaf Foods. Our Board faced its most active year in 2010 in managing the changes to the shareholder base and in approving the strategy that sets the course for the foreseeable future. As a result, we entered 2011 with a clear and united focus on the path to deliver sustained value for shareholders.

The directors and officers of Maple Leaf Foods hold approximately 2.4% of the Company’s shares, not including either McCain Capital Corporation’s 31.3% ownership stake or West Face Capital’s 11.4%. Taken together, approximately 45% of the Company’s shares are held by members of the Board and/or Management and their affiliates. This is a significant ownership stake that ties our interests to those of our shareholders and solidifies our commitment to realize the full earnings potential of this Company.

Sincerely,

G. Wallace F. McCain, C.C.
Chairman