Mississippi-based poultry processor Sanderson Farms has established a new processing plant and wastewater treatment facility with an investment of $155m in North Carolina.
The new 180,000ft2 poultry plant located in St. Pauls will complement Sanderson’s Lumberton hatchery and Kinston feed mill to become the company's eleventh integrated poultry processing facilities in the US.
Sanderson’s new deboning plant will give the company improved accessibility to the East Coast market. It will also provide employment to 1,100 workers in the local community and also give scope to 100 contract growers additionally, stated the company.
St. Pauls Mayor Gordon “Buddy” Westbrook said: “I think it’s probably one of the best things we’ve had in 30 years.
“We need the project. We need the jobs, so it’s great.”
Built on a greenfield site, the poultry plant will use a mechanical wastewater treatment system which will recycle wastewater. This, in turn will be utilized on a nearby 1,500-acre plot of land owned by Sanderson.
The weekly processing capacity of the new poultry complex is 1.25 million birds for the big bird deboning market. Also, the facility will be able to sell nearly 500 million pounds of dressed poultry meat annually.
Apart from the 1,600 workers on the company rolls in North Carolina, Sanderson stated that it is planning to create job opportunities to Robeson County.
Sanderson Farms Development and Engineering Director Pic Billingsley said: “We’re hiring a lot of good, local people.”
Sanderson claims that the new facility at St. Pauls uses the latest technology in the poultry sector to ensure food safety, environmental conservation and employee welfare.
