Bell & Evans Begins Construction On an Organic Chicken Facility

Premium poultry producer Bell & Evans began construction on a new 411,500 square foot, Organic-Certified Chicken Harvesting Facility in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania. The first precast walls were placed in July, and the facility will be operational by late 2021. The project will cost the company approximately $330 million and double its current production capacity.

Bell & Evans produces 100% premium Raised Without Antibiotics chicken and Organic chicken, approximately 60% and 40% of its business, respectively. The additional capacity will allow Bell & Evans to continue expanding...

Amazon to Add Thousands of Jobs to Phoenix Metro Area

Amazon.com, Inc. announced 11 new sites across the Phoenix metro area expected to be open by the end of 2020 to support customer fulfillment and delivery operations. The new sites are expected to create more than 3,000 new full- and part-time jobs with a minimum $15 per hour wage and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.

The news follows Amazon’s recent announcement of the company’s Phoenix Tech Hub expansion at 100 Mill, which will bring more than...

Kroger and Ocado Announce Three Additional Regions for Customer Fulfillment Centers

Kroger and Ocado announced the continued expansion of their partnership with plans to construct three new Customer Fulfillment Centers (CFC) in the Great Lakes, Pacific Northwest and West regions.

"Kroger is incredibly excited to construct three additional industry-leading Customer Fulfillment Centers across the country in relationship with Ocado to bring fresh food to our customers more conveniently than ever before," said Robert Clark, Kroger's senior vice president of supply chain, manufacturing and sourcing. "Through our strategic partnership, we are...

Quirch Foods Opens New Distribution Center 

Quirch Foods, LLC opens its sixth distribution center in Greensboro North Carolina. The expansion is an essential component to the growth of the company which seeks to continue expanding and leveraging its distribution reach. Currently operating with 5 distribution centers located throughout the Southeast and the Caribbean, the sixth facility is set to begin operations in early March of 2020. The addition of this warehouse facility extends the company’s reach and ability to service independent and national supermarkets in and around the Carolinas and northward.

“We continue to look for opportunities to expand our reach and find strategic locations which will facilitate a...

Walmart Opens Case-Ready Facility in Thomasville, Creates 200 Local Jobs

Walmart announced the opening of a case-ready facility that is part of the company’s new Angus beef supply chain. Governor Brian Kemp joined Walmart executives today to celebrate the opening of the company’s 201,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in Thomasville, GA. Walmart began construction on the facility in August 2018. It is operated by FPL foods and brings 200+ jobs to Georgia.

“Today, we celebrate 200 new jobs for talented Georgians,” said Gov. Kemp. “Walmart has a long history in Georgia, I am thrilled that the company selected Thomasville as the location for this facility. It’s a vote of confidence...

Empirical Foods to Open New Ground Beef Facility in Kansas

South Dakota-based Empirical Foods announced plans to construct a new ground beef facility in Garden City, Kansas, adding that the investment is the largest in the company's 40-year history.

It said in a statement that the new plant, which Empirical will begin constructing in the first quarter of 2020, will supplement its existing production facility in South Sioux City, Nebraska and more than double the company’s current ground beef capacity.

“Demand for Empirical’s lean ground beef requires us to significantly increase our processing capacity to...

Tyson Looks to Expand Beef Operations Internationally

Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc., today signed an agreement with the Republic of Kazakhstan and private holding company Kusto Group to collaborate on a project that, in its initial phase could lead to the construction of a modern beef processing plant in Kazakhstan, with an anticipated harvest capacity of 2,000 head per day. As presently conceived, the investment is projected to help provide an annual agricultural economic benefit to the country well in excess of one billion dollars (USD).

Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world by geographic area and has identified the livestock and the multi-protein export industry as a key growth market. The country has an established beef industry which serves the domestic population with exports to the region. The agreement...

Australia: Unilever Relocating Weis Ice-Cream Production

Unilever has announced plans to move the production of its Weis Ice cream business from Queensland to New South Wales, local press reports.

In 2017 Unilever acquired Weis, an Australian ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturer. Its range features a variety of ice cream formats including single bar, multi-pack bars, dairy-free sorbet tubs and frozen yogurt tubs.

It is understood Unilever made the decision to close the factory after a review of its Australia and New Zealand ice cream business. The Toowoomba, Queensland facility is...

Verde's Growth Continues with Opening of Processing Facility

Verde Farms announces today the opening of its own processing facility in Mullica Hill, NJ. Marking a major milestone for the company, the opening signals Verde's enhanced capability to process its premium products in-house, while also offering advanced processing services to a select number of specialty meat customers. Following ongoing market growth and expansion of robust customer support services, the new facility underscores Verde Farms' position in grass-fed beef.

In its USDA Organic and level 2 SQF-certified facility, Verde will now process both frozen and fresh material into a variety of vacuum-packed products using the latest state-of-the art, highly-automated process and packaging equipment.

"Opening our own processing facility emphasizes our foundational commitment to offer the highest-quality products, while...

Vion Invests in a Dedicated Plant-Based Site in Leeuwarden

Vion CEO Ronald Lotgerink announced earlier this year to introduce meat alternatives as part of the company’s strategy of building food chains based on the market demand. Vion is now planning to open a dedicated plant-based site in Leeuwarden (NL).

The market for meat alternatives has been growing over the past few years and it is expected to continue to grow. Next to Vion’s home markets in the Netherlands and Germany, other parts of Europe like the UK, Italy and France are also growing markets for meat alternatives. This is mainly the result of eating habits of so-called flexitarians, who regularly buy these products.

The Vion site in Leeuwarden was built in 2017 and is currently operating as a beef facility. It was built according to the latest standards, which means...

Cargill to Invest $225 Million at Facility in Sidney, Ohio

Cargill is expanding its integrated soybean crush and refined oils facility in Sidney, Ohio, to better serve area farmers and to meet growing demand for protein and refined oils.

The company will invest approximately $225 million at the Sidney site, increasing crush capacity and modernizing operations. The investment creates greater market access for farmers’ crops in the area and allows those farmers to deliver their soybeans more efficiently, as the upgraded plant will unload trucks at a much faster rate.

“Farmers are at the core of our business. This investment will help us provide them a better experience when they choose to sell their crops to us,” said Don Camden, commercial leader for the eastern region of...