SAMPSON COUNTY, NC
Smithfield Foods Inc. is partnering with Kansas City Sausage LLC to build a $44.8 million sausage plant in North Carolina by June of 2016.
"This new facility is an essential part of [our] strategy and also underscores our commitment to broaden our product offerings," said Smithfield President and Chief Executive Larry Pope.
The company says it is building the 90,000-square-foot plant in Sampson County, NC to satisfy the growing consumer demand for breakfast and dinner sausage. It will create an estimated 177 jobs, the two companies said in a statement Wednesday.
According to the Kansas City Star, Smithfield formed Kansas City Sausage in 2013 as part of its strategy to expand into the $4 billion breakfast and dinner sausage business. Kansas City Sausage bought the site of the new factory in April 2014, and the factory will represent a 50-50 joint venture between both companies.
The company expects the plant will produce 50 million pounds of pork sausage annually, and process between 700 and 1,000 sows per day.
