March 17, 2023

320,000-square-foot beef plant to be set up in Olathe, Kansas, US

An unnamed company plans to build a 320,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art beef processing and packaging facility for retail ready products in Olathe, Kansas, the United States.

The company conducts business in several merchandising units, including grocery. Its subsidiary, 1918 LLC, requested insurance of US$257 million of industrial revenue bonds for the facility’s construction.

Over the next decade, the project is predicted to create nearly 700 full-time jobs with a total estimated payroll of US$23.5 million. In the first year, the facility is expected to generate US$282 million in sales and to grow to US$502 million in 10 years.

"The operation would be unique to the food industry, combining the latest in meat production design with best-in-class packaging and material handling systems," according to the company's project application. "The facility would use a sustainable design solution and provide the company with reliability and flexibility in raw material storage, track and trace, wet and dry processing, palatising and finished project handling systems."

The application added that the plant would not house slaughter. All animals would be raised and processed in another US state.

The company does not currently operate industrial facilities in Olathe but has retail locations in the city. After opening the planned Olathe plant, all its Kansas retail stores' Choice beef cuts would be supplied through the local production. The Olathe operation would also cover Choice beef production for other retail stores in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas.

- Meat + Poultry