US – American multinational corporation Tyson Foods has announced that it will invest US$300 million to construct a new prepared foods facility in Danville, Virginia.
According to a statement from the company, the project aims to accelerate brand growth and is part of the Tyson Food’s commitment to meet the increasing demand for its products.
“As consumers actively look to add more protein to their diets, Tyson is uniquely positioned as a category leader to meet that growing demand,” said Noelle O’Mara, president, Prepared Foods at Tyson.
“Our continued focus on consumer-driven innovation will accelerate this momentum and our investment in Danville-Pittsylvania County will help drive the long-term growth of the iconic Tyson brand.”
The 325,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility will primarily focus on the production of fully-cooked Tyson branded chicken products, including Any’tizer Snacks and Chicken Nuggets.
Tyson has also pledged to buy 60 million pounds of Virginia-grown chicken over the next three years.
“Our company has been successfully working in the Commonwealth of Virginia for decades,” said David Bray, group president of Poultry for Tyson.
“We’re thankful for the invitation to become a part of the Danville and Pittsylvania County communities, the support from both state and local leaders, and the presence of such a strong workforce in the region.”
Tyson Foods says that the new facility will provide nearly 400 jobs when production begins in spring 2023.
To keep the pandemic at bay, Tyson Foods announced recently that it will require its 120,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated fully this year and will pay them a US$200 bonus to do so.
The company said 56,000 U.S. employees have been vaccinated. Office workers face a deadline of Oct. 1 to be vaccinated fully, while plant employees have until Nov. 1.
To further motivate its labour force into takng the vaccine, Tyson recently said it is offering U.S. chicken plant workers the chance to win US$10,000 once a week for the next five weeks if they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine lottery is the latest attempt to encourage vaccinations by the country’s biggest meat company by sales, as the contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus drives an increase in U.S. cases.
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