Tyson Foods to Build $300M Processing Plant in Tennessee

On Monday, Tyson Foods announced that it will build a $300 million poultry processing facility in Humboldt, Tennessee. The plant will be providing over 1500 jobs and producing pre-packaged trays of chicken for grocery stores nationwide near the end of 2019.

This is the fifth operation the meat manufacturer has invested in Tennessee. The company had announced the $84 million expansion of its Union City, Tennessee plant earlier this year.

“Through our ongoing strategic planning process, we’re continuously looking at ways to maximize the effectiveness and growth potential of our protein-based portfolio of products,” Tom Hayes, president and CEO of Tyson Foods, said in a statement earlier this year.

The company is also opening a state-of-the-art Incubation Technology Center in Springdale, Arkansas. The 75,000-square-foot hatchery will replace two other nearby locations.

The announcement of their latest expansion will put the community members of Tonganoxie, Kansas at ease. The company faced a lot of opposition from the city when they previously planned to open a new facility there. After a large anti-Tyson rally in September, the company decided to put their project on hold in order to find other locations to build.

Unlike Tonganoxie, Humboldt officials welcomed the new plant to their district. Tennessee’s governor, two mayors and other elected officials made positive comments regarding the plant on Monday. The leaders emphasised on the benefits expected from the project such as more jobs for the community.

As the US experiences more demand for poultry products, Tyson finds their business to be booming. Americans are eating twice as much chicken than beef and pork annually – 89 pounds compared to 54 and 50 pounds, respectively.

This demand has led to the expansion of many other poultry retailers like Costco, Foster Farms and Sanderson Farms.

According to Tyson’s recent earnings report, sales in it’s chicken sector rose 10.6 percent. The continuing consumer demand for poultry will likely lead to more expansion projects for the major meat manufacturer.