Seaboard Foods and Triumph Foods formed a 50-50 joint venture in May 2015 to build the new plant, which will be one of the biggest projects in the Sioux City. The facility will complement two large-scale pork processing plants currently in operation in the US.
The plant will ensure both companies offer premium-quality pork that meets the highest food safety standards. Site preparation works are anticipated to begin in the second half of 2015 and construction is scheduled for completion by July 2017.
The plant is expected to generate approximately 1,100 employment opportunities, of which 200 will be salaried (management) and 900 will be hourly production and maintenance positions.
Strategic location of the pork processing plant
The new pork processing plant will be constructed on 250 acres of land in Bridgeport West Industrial Park, located north of the Sioux Gateway Airport along the Missouri River in Woodbury County, Iowa.
Sioux City was selected as it offers an ideal industrial site location and good transportation infrastructure, and is complemented by the availability of market hogs and the support offered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa State Government.
The city has also been consistently ranked as a leading destination for the food processing industry, while the state of Iowa is the leading pork producer and exporter in the US. It is also home to a number of leading processed pork brands.
Pork processing facility background
The proposed development agreement between City Council and Seaboard-Triumph includes the sale of the 250-acre property, tax incentives and approval of an application for state programme benefits through targeted, high-quality jobs and the 260E New Jobs programme.
The programme provides training to new employees in Iowa that are recruited by businesses expanding in the state.
In addition, the city will apply for aid to accomplish road improvements from the site to Interstate 29 under the IDOT RISE programme.
Pork processing plant technology and production
The new facility features modern architecture and customised landscaping for beautification. It will also incorporate modern odour technologies to reduce odour, and other environment-friendly design features.
It will initially operate in a single shift with a capacity to slaughter 10,000-12,000 hogs a day or three million hogs a year.
The facility will produce a full line of fresh pork products for international and retail markets, food service operators, grocery stores, further processors and other distributors throughout the US and other foreign markets.
Seaboard Foods will be responsible for the marketing and selling of pork produced at the plant along with pork processed at St Joseph, Missouri plant and Seaboard Foods' Guymon, Oklahoma plant.
Seaboard Food sells its products in domestic markets under the brand name PrairieFresh Premium Pork and in international markets under the brand names Seaboard Farms and St Joe Pork.
Financing for the joint venture project
The project will attract an investment of $264m, of which the property cost would constitute more than $100m, making it one of the biggest projects in Sioux City history.
Iowa's Economic Development Authority board approved the city's application for $13.2m of tax credits and tax incentives for the project.
The $13.2m incentive package includes $7.6m in targeted jobs and tax credits over a ten-year period, as well as $2.3m in investment tax credits and $3.2m in refunds of sales and use tax on construction materials under the state's High-Quality Job Creation Programme (HQJC).
Marketing commentary on Triumph Foods and Seaboard Foods partnership
Seaboard Foods, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seaboard Corporation and pork-producer-owned Triumph Foods, are integrated food companies that aligned their farm operations and pork processing under one roof.
From the farm to the customer, the companies control the entire value chain including genetics, pig nutrition, animal care, food safety and product quality, to ensure the delivery of consistent, high-quality premium pork products.
If both companies are considered as a single combined entity, they would be the second biggest hog producers, top five pork processors and leading pork exporters in the US.
