Betagro expands pork processing plant

Thailand's largest agro-industrial businesses, Betagro Group , has entered a 25-year contract to develop a pork processing plant to produce high-quality meat in the Northeast, in Khon Kaen Municipality.

Betagro plans to invest THB70 million over the next seven months to upgrade the processing unit, which will have capacity to process 480 pigs a day, all from the company's contracted farms, said Narongchai Srisantisaeng, the group's senior vice-president for regional and feed business.

The new plant will be developed to meet the standards of the Livestock Development Department for producing hygienic meat. It is expected to start operating late this year.

About 85% of the production will be supplied to food services businesses, hotels, restaurants and fresh markets, and the balance will be marketed at Betagro Shops under the company's HyMeat brand, said Narongchai, adding that the new facility would expand the pig processing line of Betagro to 2,630 pigs each day.

At present, the company operates three pork processing plants: Betagro Safety Meat Packing in Lop Buri (1,700 pigs a day), Chiang Mai (200 pigs), and Phatthalung (250 pigs), and plans to add two more facilities over the next three years, Narongchai says, adding that the expansion will also help the group expand revenue from the pork segment by 10-15% as projected this year.

Last year, Betagro earned about THB5 billion from the pig business, with local and export sales of products made from about one million pigs. Chicken remains the core contributor to sales at about THB17 billion out of the group's total of THB55 billion.