OSI Group LLC will open two new processing plants in China on Oct. 19, bringing the number of OSI's China facilities to 10, the company reported. The new additions include a multi-protein further processing (FP) facility and an adjacent, integrated poultry operation in Xihua, Henan Province.
The FP plant will process poultry and beef products for chain account customers in China and select export markets, according to the company. The facility will operate in two phases. Phase I of the FP plant will process par-fried and fully cooked chicken products supplied by an adjacent DaOSI poultry operation, and employ nearly 500 workers. Phase II, which will be operational by 2016, will include additional high-speed lines and expand to include value-added beef.
The FP facility will cover more than 2.2 million sq. ft. when fully completed in 2018. It will be OSI’s largest food-processing facility globally, the company said. The DaOSI slaughter plant will also be OSI’s largest integrated poultry operation globally, covering more than nearly 400,000 sq. ft. The total project cost is more than $300 million. DaOSI is a joint venture company between OSI and Doyoo Group, a leading Chinese poultry company.
“We have invested a great deal in China and are quite appreciative of the growth here, said David McDonald, OSI president and COO. There is no other place in the world growing as quickly as China, and we feel fortunate to be a part of it. We look at China as the number one growth effort among all of our global activities.”
The Henan facility is OSI’s third vertically integrated poultry operation in China. Two other facilities are in Shandong and Fujian provinces. The FP operation will put OSI on track to process 300 million birds annually and be a leading national player in China with operations in the north, central and south of the country, according to the company.
“In total, OSI Henan will become the largest further-processing facility for value-added meat in all of Asia,” said Brent Afman, senior vice president and managing director for OSI’s Asia Pacific region. “OSI Henan will have the capability to support our valued customers’ growth plans for years to come.”
