Butterball buys House of Raeford processing plant

US turkey producer, Butterball, has bought a disused former processing facility of House of Raeford.

Located in Raeford, North Carolina, the facility was closed by its previous owners in December 2014. It will now help the company continue to meet growing consumer demand for a variety of Butterball turkey products.

“We are extremely excited to expand Butterball’s further processing operations in Raeford, N.C., and for the opportunity to further strengthen our ties with the community,” said Kerry Doughty, president and chief executive officer of Butterball. “Over the next 12 months we anticipate investing nearly $30 million in improvements for the facility, totalling more than 200,000 square feet, and enhancing its production capacity to 200 million lbs annually.”

Butterball already employs nearly 200 people in its hatchery operations and Western Breeder Division at Raeford, and through the acquisition expects to provide an opportunity for more than 200 initial jobs for those in the Raeford community, and more than 360 jobs over the next three years.

Butterball produces more than 1 billion lbs of turkey each year at its six processing plants located in North Carolina, Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri. The company’s products are distributed throughout the United States and in more than 45 countries.