The first shift of the new Seaboard Triumph Foods fresh pork processing in Sioux City, Iowa, will clock in later this summer, reports Mark Campbell, Triumph Foods president and chief executive officer in a press conference held at the 2017 World Pork Expo. The second shift is planned for the summer of 2018.

“Sioux City is an outstanding location for this facility, given its access to ample regional hog supply, great transportation and distribution network and a regional workforce well familiar with food processing,” says Campbell.

Seaboard Triumph broke ground on the $300 million plant in September 2015 and occupies 110 acres with 75 acres sitting idle, reserved for future development. The plant is designed to process 21,000 hogs per day into fresh pork cuts.

Campbell stresses the features will make the plant special in the pork processing sector. There was a “significant amount of planning in the design and layout aimed at achieving scale, efficiency and superior product quality,” he notes.

Other features include:
• Sanitation design incorporates details in the walls, floors, cleaning and air system and equipment that are highly visible to anyone visiting the plant.
• Ultrasound evaluation is used on all carcasses for grading pork cuts.
• Robotics, automation and visualization system
• An 18-million pound freezer is attached to the plant to support the export market.
• Seven unique loading docks for unloading pigs to eliminate driver wait times.

Mark Porter, Seaboard Triumph Foods chief operating officer, says the opening date is drawing close. The company is quickly moving into the phase to start testing equipment and turn on power full time. “We are planning to begin operations no later than the first part of September,” states Porter.