SPRINGDALE, AR – As part of its strategy to increase production of consumer-ready products, Tyson Foods, Inc. is expanding its ready-to-use meat business, reusing the capacity of the South Carolina plant.
The company plans to reopen an idle facility owned by Tyson in Columbia and convert it into a meat cutting facility that will produce retail ready packaging for sliced and fresh beef and pork, as well as ground beef, for supermarkets and stores of clubs in the eastern US
“We are pleased to bring operations back to Columbia and are very grateful for the strong state and local support we received for this project,” said Nate Hodne, senior vice president and general manager of the Distributed Protein Innovations team at Tyson Fresh Meat , a beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods. “Once operational, this new facility will help us meet the growing demand from our retail customers with high quality, pre-cut and pre-packaged beef and pork.”
Initially, Tyson will invest approximately US $ 42 million to transform the facility into a meat portioning and packaging operation, which is currently expected to start production in May 2021. In the next three to five years, the company plans to invest in additional improvements and production equipment at the facility with an estimated total investment of US $ 55 million. The new operation will employ 330 people, more than double the number of team members who worked at the facility when it closed in August 2020.
“Tyson Foods’ initial $ 42 million investment and the 330 jobs that will result will help continue South Carolina’s tremendous economic growth,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “We are looking forward to continuing our state’s fruitful partnership with Tyson and its continued commitment to South Carolina and our people.”
“Tyson Foods’ reinvestment in the Columbia plant highlights the strategic and geographic importance of South Carolina for agribusiness,” said South Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers. “As we continue to expand the agribusiness industry in the state of Palmetto, we are happy to have Tyson as our partner.”
Tyson Foods’ ready-to-use beef and pork business currently operates factories in Iowa, Tennessee and Texas and plans to open a new facility in Utah later this year. The operations are called case-ready, because the packaged meat produced by Tyson’s facilities is ready to be placed directly in the refrigerated meat box in supermarkets and club stores.