Tyson Foods expands, EC approves Cargill Faccenda JV

Continuing strong demand for poultry has prompted the US’s largest poultry company to announce a new plant in western Tennessee, which is set to create more than 1,500 jobs.

The new Tyson Foods plant at Humboldt will produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores nationwide and is expected to process 1.25m birds a week, increasing the firm’s overall production capacity by the same amount.

The integrated plant will comprise of a processing centre, hatchery, feed mill and related operations.

Tom Hayes, president and CEO of Tyson Foods, said: “This project will enable us to provide even more fresh chicken to consumers across the country. As one of the world’s leading protein companies, we continue to raise the world’s expectations of how much good food can do.”

It is the second major economic development project the firm has initiated this year. In August, Tyson announced an $84m expansion of its Union City operations, which is expected to lead to the creation of a further 300 jobs.

Joint venture

Meanwhile, eyes are turning to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following the decision by the European Commission to approve the creation of a joint venture from US-based Cargill and the UK’s Faccenda Investment Ltd.

The joint venture will combine Cargill’s fresh chicken business in the UK with Faccenda’s fresh chicken, turkey and duck business.

Last month the Commission granted a request to refer the assessment of the transaction’s effects on competition in the UK to the UK competition authority. The Commission said the remainder of the transaction would raise no competition concerns because the companies’ market share were small in the relevant areas outside the UK.

A decision by the UK’s CMA is expected at the end of December.