US – Farmer-owned food company, West Liberty Foods, plans to halt operations at its Mount Pleasant meat-slicing plant, Iowa, effective May 7, 2023, impacting about 350 workers.
The facility opened in 2003, boasting its patented Clean Room Food Processing Systems — the first food manufacturing facility in the nation with this technology.
Since opening, the facility has produced hundreds of millions of pounds of sliced meat for West Liberty Foods customers.
However, the processor said the closure is a result of a recent shift in the types of products and capabilities needed to support customers, resulting in a drastic reduction in pre-sliced deli meats, leaving this particular facility and its equipment unmatched to the company’s future needs and direction.
The closure will happen in two phases, with the first reduction occurring on Dec. 31, 2022, and all operations stopping in Mount Pleasant in May 2023.
After considering shutting down the facility, the company has plans of moving and consolidating existing operations from the Mount Pleasant facility to remaining facilities in Iowa, Illinois, and Utah.
Brandon Achen, president, and CEO of West Liberty Foods said: “Respect and care for people is a core value of our company, and shutting down a plant is a tough thing to do.”
To lessen the impact of the plant closing on the team members, Tara Lindsay, chief talent & culture officer noted the company will provide them with offers to work at one of the other plants, relocation, and transportation services, stay bonuses, severance pay, reemployment services and assistance with filing unemployment claims.
Cherokees open meat processing plant in Tahlequah
Meanwhile, the Cherokee Nation has officially opened the doors of the tribe’s new meat processing facility.
The 1839 Cherokee Meat Co. – named in honor of the year of the Cherokee Nation’s constitution – is a 12,000-square-foot meat processing facility in Tahlequah, intended to provide both food security and economic development for the tribe.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. commented that by addressing the shortage of meat processing capacity with its facility, the federal government supports local agriculture and locally sourced food for the benefit of Cherokee citizens and the region’s economy.
Announced plans for the new meat processing plant in 2020, when the pandemic interfered with meat production nationwide in the US, the Cherokee Nation official said the facility was estimated to cost US$1 million and would process beef, pork, and bison, employing up to seven people.
Construction of the plant is part of a US$27 million COVID-19 Respond, Recover and Rebuild project to address food security for the tribe. Plans also include five new food distribution centers and additional refrigerated trucks.
The meat processing plant is expected to grow in phases, eventually processing animals from the Cherokee Nation’s bison herd, which has grown to almost 220.
The nation has been growing its herd since 2014 on approximately 1,000 acres near Kenwood in Delaware County.
Once the bison operation reaches sustainability, the Cherokee Nation will be able to provide a farm-to-table local bison meat operation.
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