Missouri's Moon Ridge Foods opens pork processing, to create 160 new jobs
The Missouri Department of Economic Development announced that Moon Ridge Foods cut the ribbon on its flagship pork processing facility in Pleasant Hope.
July 29, 2016
The Missouri Department of Economic Development announced that a highly differentiated pork business, Moon Ridge Foods, cut the ribbon on its flagship processing facility in Pleasant Hope. Activity at this facility will create 160 new jobs and represents an investment of $54 million over the next two years.
“Missouri’s agriculture industry, farmers, food sector, and consumers celebrate today, as this new facility is unveiled,” says Mike Downing, director of DED. “I am pleased to welcome Moon Ridge Foods to Pleasant Hope, where its investment and new jobs will make a huge impact in this community and the surrounding rural area, and further advance economic development in this key industry. Missouri has a long, rich history of feeding the world, and Moon Ridge’s expansion builds upon this tradition.”
Moon Ridge Foods is a farm-to-plate operation that will produce, process and market unique, highly differentiated, superior-quality pork products. The company combines progressive methods of production and processing and state-of-the art technology and information with uniquely artisan meat cutting.
Moon Ridge Foods has invested and installed next generation equipment and technology into its 110,000 square-foot facility, which will process about 600,000 hogs annually once up and running. Production will begin ramping up in late August.
“We want to create a company that sustains families and communities, throughout the value chain. It’s about farming and processing practices that are respectful to its workers, the welfare of the animals and enhance our natural resources,” says Russ Kremer, co-founder and CEO of the company.
The company used almost all local labor for the construction of the facility, and wages and benefits for the new positions are significantly above the region’s average.
Approximately 30% of the pork produced by Moon Ridge Foods will be exported to new markets in Asia.
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