The plant will also raise Cargill's weekly processing of birds from 1.8 million to up to two million.

The new facility boasts of an automated cutting and deboning technology which can process up to 60 birds per minute as well as a chiller capable of holding up to 10,000 birds hourly. It could also process up to 240 breast fillets per minute and conduct stunning under controlled atmosphere conditions.

According to John Reed, the agricultural director of Cargill's European Chicken business, rising demand for home-grown chickens has led to the establishment of the facility.

In the meantime, due to a requirement for a long-term sustainable supply chain for fresh chickens, Cargill only approves farming applications that fulfill the company's stringent standards. As a result, 11 farms have or are currently being built.

"We're two years into a three-year strategy and we are rebuilding our first floor to house a new evisceration area," Reed told FoodProductionDaily."We chose to build the evisceration area on the first floor in an unused space so that construction and installation could be carried out without disrupting ongoing production or compromising food safety."

Reed also revealed that an ultraviolet light (UV) finished pack decontamination technology will soon be operating in the Hereford facility. "(It) provides an additional precaution to eliminate any residual bugs that might potentially be present," he explained.