West Liberty Foods
Encyclopedia
West Liberty Foods, L.L.C.
is a US
meat processing
company owned by the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative and formed in 1996 by a group of Iowa
turkey
growers, and now owns four meat processing plants. The company mainly produces products
for customers to sell under their own brand
names. As of 2006, West liberty Foods was the 12th largest turkey company in the United States.
Each plant, located in the three Iowa towns of West Liberty
, Mount Pleasant
, and Sigourney
as well as Tremonton, Utah
, focuses on specific aspects of the meat packing process. The West Liberty plant participates in the entire process by slaughtering animals, further processing meats into products, and packaging finished products, and the Sigourney plant focuses on the further processing step only, and the Mount Pleasant plant only packages finished product.
While West Liberty Foods has experienced growth and received industry recognition since its inception, it initially faced a difficult market
for turkeys, and has experienced problems with labor discontent. Employees
remain with the company for an average of nine years, with more than 1500 employed.
The company primarily provides meat for other marketing
brands, producing 90% of its product for customers while selling only 10% under the West Liberty Foods brand name. In addition to slaughtering turkeys, the company produces prepared beef
, chicken
, pork
, and turkey products. Company revenue
has grown rapidly with US$
65 million in sales
during 1997, US$120 million in 2000, and US$200 million in 2003. Most recently, West Liberty Foods posted US$442 million in revenue for 2006, making the company the 56th largest meat packing company by sales in the United States. Much of the company's sales come from large nationwide foodservice
customers, and, as of 2006, was Subway
's largest supplier of sliced sandwich meat, providing the franchise
with more than 1 million pounds per week. As a result of servicing national customers, the company is inspected more than other food manufacturers. West Liberty Foods' three plants have been ISO 14001
certified for meeting environmental management standards, and the West Liberty plant was the first turkey processing plant in the United States to receive this certification
.
West Liberty Foods maintains separate facilities for research and development
and laboratory
testing
services. They are housed in adjacent buildings several blocks from the plant in West Liberty. The R&D facility includes testing space for both raw and cooked product, and can create test products from start to finish, including initial formulation, final slicing, and packaging
. The lab conducts product quality testing for the three production facilities and uses polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) technology for rapid bacteriological testing. This system can return results within 30 hours of production.
, the brand name for Oscar Mayer
's turkey division, owned the processing plant in West Liberty, IA. In early 1996, Oscar Mayer's parent company, Kraft Foods
, announced that they would close the plant that December if no buyer purchased it. The Iowa turkey growers who sold to Kraft discussed purchasing the plant to ensure that demand
for their birds remained. In May, 1996, forty-seven of the turkey growers formed the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative(ITGC). ITGC purchased the plant from Kraft and took control of it in December. The growers hired meat industry veteran Ken Rutledge to be President and COO of the company. Oscar Mayer helped West Liberty Foods by promising to purchase half of the plant's output in 1997 and a quarter of the output in 1998 to help the startup company
.
Production under ITGC ownership began in January 1997. The company faced financial difficulty because the turkey market was oversupplied and prices hit historic lows. While financial projections assumed a price of US$1.92 per pound for turkey, prices averaged US$1.46 per pound in 1997. During this time period, four of the growers left ITGC. Turkey prices eventually rebounded, and the company was bolstered by sales to Sara Lee near the end of 1998.
Since the rebound, West Liberty Foods’ sales have grown steadily. In 2000, the company acquired a second plant in Sigourney, IA from Pinnacle Foods
to meet rising orders
. The company grew again in April, 2003 when it opened a processing plant in Mount Pleasant, IA which was later expanded in 2004. Company leadership changed in 2004 as Ed Garrett was named president and COO when Rutledge resigned to take a position with another growers' organization. In 2006 the company entered into a marketing alliance agreement with Midvale, Utah
based Norbest Foods.
(UFCW). On July 1, 2004 the workers voted on whether they would be represented by UFCW Local 431. An initial tally of votes came out 301 in favor and 299 against union
representation. However, the count did not include 13 ballots which were disputed by UFCW. The ballots were challenged on claims that they were cast by management
personnel who would not be union members.
A National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) hearing to confirm or invalidate the vote was scheduled for January 5, 2005 but then postponed until February 16, 2005. On February 1, 2005 the company and UFCW settled their dispute. UFCW withdrew its objections, and West Liberty Foods posted a notice
that they would not close the plant or fire workers if employees unionized. This resulted in a final vote count of 303 to 308 against union representation.
UFCW Local 431 held a second vote at the West Liberty plant on July 15, 2005. The vote was 231 to 322 against unionization.
In 2009, the company paid US$58,613.75 to Labor Information Services, an anti-union management services company connected to The Burke Group
, to provide consultants who met directly with workers "either individually or in group meetings...regarding union issues."
West Liberty Foods' three plants combined can convert 4.5 million turkeys into product annually. This equals approximately 180 million pounds of product per year. Combined, the West Liberty and Sigourney plants can cook 2.8 million pounds per week.
.
Louis H. Rich, purchased the West Liberty plant, a former tomato canning facility, in 1943, when he decided to expand the operations of the Rock Island Produce Company, located on 9th Street in Rock Island, Illinois
. The plant was converted to a poultry, including chickens and turkeys, slaughter facility in 1946 and refocused by Rich's sons, Norman and Martin, on turkey in 1949. The plant was first expanded in 1960. Oscar Mayer acquired the plant, through its purchase of Louis Rich, Inc., in 1979 and used it for turkey production until selling the plant in 1996.
, turkey, chicken, beef, pork and other products. The plant employs approximately 500 people working in three shifts. A 68000 square feet (6,317.4 m²) Millard Refrigerated Services facility is located adjacent to the Mount Pleasant plant. The two facilities are connected, and product is immediately transferred by conveyor
from the plant to cold storage when packaging is complete.
The design and operation of the Mount Pleasant plant to are intended decrease potential hazards to food safety. WLF representatives have stated that the goal of the Mount Pleasant plant is to create a pathogen
-free environment. Because company officials believe that the food safety aspects of the plant are unique in the meat industry, they submitted the plant design for patent
approval through the U.S. Patent Office
. The Mount Pleasant plant is located approximately 50 miles (80.5 km) from either the West Liberty or Sigourney plants. This reduces the likelihood that pathogens will be carried either by air or foot traffic from a raw production area to Mount Pleasant's ready to eat production.
The Mount Pleasant facility consists of approximately 20 individual processing cells that are separated from one another and are set up so that they could operate as individual meat slicing facilities. Before anti-microbial flooring
was poured, the cells were erected with stainless steel
anti-microbial
walls that are built into the floor. Each processing cell has independent refrigeration and drainage
systems. The refrigeration systems filter
the cell's air and maintain positive air pressure
at 38 °F (3.3 °C), and the drainage systems are sealed off and flooded with sanitizers nightly.
During operation, fully cooked meat or cheese logs arrive sealed in impermeable casings
. The logs go through a casing sanitation step that involves being treated with a sanitizing liquid before the casings are removed from the logs. The logs then undergo a post-lethality treatment by passing through an infrared
pasteurization
tunnel to kill pathogens on the logs. The logs are then mechanically transferred to slicers, sliced, and placed in sealed packages that are transferred out of the processing cell. The mechanical transfers decrease the risk of product contamination by reducing handling of product by personnel .
Food safety is a factor in hiring employees at the Mount Pleasant facility. Before applying, potential employees must complete a 16 hour food safety training course through Iowa State University
. The class includes written tests which each applicant must pass before completing the course. On the job, employees must don a sealed clean room suit before entering slicing cells. The suits are cleaned and sealed in a clean room laundry
facility in North Carolina
by the uniform company Cintas
. Employees replace the clean suit each time they leave the cell so each employee averages five suits per day.
. The plant will not slaughter, but the 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²) facility will allot 93000 square feet (8,640 m²) for processing and 74000 square feet (6,874.8 m²) for slicing a variety of meat products. The company broke ground for the facility in October, 2006. It is expected to begin production in July 2007. When completed, the plant will be the first in North America to slice 10 ft (3 m) slicing logs. The plant will initially have ten slicing cells allowing production of 150 million pounds per year and will eventually add ten more cells to double the plant's capaicty. At full capacity, the plant will employ more than 500 people. Similar to the Mount Pleasant plant, a 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) Millard Refrigerated Services facility will be built adjacent to the Tremonton plant for warehouse storage of refrigerated and frozen products.
Initially, the company investigated sites for the new plant in Utah
, Nevada
, and Arizona
. It requested US$5.2 million in tax incentives Utah to build in Pleasant View, Utah
. On April 26, 2006 Utah's Department of Community and Economic Development approved a US$2 million tax-rebate over 10 years. The incentives were conditioned on the new jobs paying a certain level above the county median wage, offering health insurance, and the company staying in Utah for 10 years. Pleasant View offered another US$1.4-US$1.8 million dollars in incentives. However, construction in Pleasant View became impossible when it was discovered that much of the site consisted of wetland areas. After this development, the state held the incentive offer open provided that West Liberty Foods could find another suitable site that met Utah's requirements.
On July 29, 2006, the company announced that they would build the new plant in Tremonton, Utah. The tax incentives will total an 80% property tax break, but Tremonton is projected to experience a US$508 thousand financial benefit over 12 years after the plant is completed. Of the 500 jobs at the plant, 300 are expected to pay between US$21,500 and US$26,875. The rest of the jobs will pay more with about 100 paying around US$37,000.
Hormel
Spirit of Excellence Award in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
is a US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
meat processing
Meat packing industry
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...
company owned by the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative and formed in 1996 by a group of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
turkey
Domesticated turkey
The domesticated turkey is a large poultry bird. The modern domesticated form descends from the wild turkey , one of the two species of turkey ; in the past the ocellated turkey was also domesticated.The turkey is raised throughout temperate parts of the world and is a popular form of poultry,...
growers, and now owns four meat processing plants. The company mainly produces products
Product (business)
In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...
for customers to sell under their own brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
names. As of 2006, West liberty Foods was the 12th largest turkey company in the United States.
Each plant, located in the three Iowa towns of West Liberty
West Liberty, Iowa
West Liberty is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,332 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Muscatine Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant, Iowa
Mount Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Iowa, in the United States. The population was 8,668 in the 2010 census, a decline from 8,751 in the 2000 census. It was founded in 1835 by pioneer Presley Saunders.- History :...
, and Sigourney
Sigourney, Iowa
Sigourney is a city in Keokuk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,059 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Keokuk County.-History:...
as well as Tremonton, Utah
Tremonton, Utah
Tremonton is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 7,647 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Tremonton is located at ....
, focuses on specific aspects of the meat packing process. The West Liberty plant participates in the entire process by slaughtering animals, further processing meats into products, and packaging finished products, and the Sigourney plant focuses on the further processing step only, and the Mount Pleasant plant only packages finished product.
While West Liberty Foods has experienced growth and received industry recognition since its inception, it initially faced a difficult market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
for turkeys, and has experienced problems with labor discontent. Employees
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
remain with the company for an average of nine years, with more than 1500 employed.
Information
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
brands, producing 90% of its product for customers while selling only 10% under the West Liberty Foods brand name. In addition to slaughtering turkeys, the company produces prepared beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
, pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, and turkey products. Company revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
has grown rapidly with US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
65 million in sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
during 1997, US$120 million in 2000, and US$200 million in 2003. Most recently, West Liberty Foods posted US$442 million in revenue for 2006, making the company the 56th largest meat packing company by sales in the United States. Much of the company's sales come from large nationwide foodservice
Foodservice
Food Service or catering industry defines those businesses, institutions, and companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home...
customers, and, as of 2006, was Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
's largest supplier of sliced sandwich meat, providing the franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
with more than 1 million pounds per week. As a result of servicing national customers, the company is inspected more than other food manufacturers. West Liberty Foods' three plants have been ISO 14001
ISO 14000
The ISO 14000 environmental management standards exist to help organizations minimize how their operations negatively affect the environment The ISO 14000 environmental management standards exist to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes etc.) negatively affect the...
certified for meeting environmental management standards, and the West Liberty plant was the first turkey processing plant in the United States to receive this certification
Professional certification
Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task...
.
West Liberty Foods maintains separate facilities for research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
and laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
testing
Experiment
An experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...
services. They are housed in adjacent buildings several blocks from the plant in West Liberty. The R&D facility includes testing space for both raw and cooked product, and can create test products from start to finish, including initial formulation, final slicing, and packaging
Packaging and labelling
Packaging is the science, art, and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport,...
. The lab conducts product quality testing for the three production facilities and uses polymerase chain reaction
Polymerase chain reaction
The polymerase chain reaction is a scientific technique in molecular biology to amplify a single or a few copies of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence....
(PCR) technology for rapid bacteriological testing. This system can return results within 30 hours of production.
History
Prior to 1996, Louis RichOscar Mayer
Oscar Mayer is an American meat and cold cut production company, owned by Kraft Foods, known for its hot dogs, bologna, bacon and Lunchables products.-History:...
, the brand name for Oscar Mayer
Oscar Mayer
Oscar Mayer is an American meat and cold cut production company, owned by Kraft Foods, known for its hot dogs, bologna, bacon and Lunchables products.-History:...
's turkey division, owned the processing plant in West Liberty, IA. In early 1996, Oscar Mayer's parent company, Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
, announced that they would close the plant that December if no buyer purchased it. The Iowa turkey growers who sold to Kraft discussed purchasing the plant to ensure that demand
Supply and demand
Supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It concludes that in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good will vary until it settles at a point where the quantity demanded by consumers will equal the quantity supplied by producers , resulting in an...
for their birds remained. In May, 1996, forty-seven of the turkey growers formed the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative(ITGC). ITGC purchased the plant from Kraft and took control of it in December. The growers hired meat industry veteran Ken Rutledge to be President and COO of the company. Oscar Mayer helped West Liberty Foods by promising to purchase half of the plant's output in 1997 and a quarter of the output in 1998 to help the startup company
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
.
Production under ITGC ownership began in January 1997. The company faced financial difficulty because the turkey market was oversupplied and prices hit historic lows. While financial projections assumed a price of US$1.92 per pound for turkey, prices averaged US$1.46 per pound in 1997. During this time period, four of the growers left ITGC. Turkey prices eventually rebounded, and the company was bolstered by sales to Sara Lee near the end of 1998.
Since the rebound, West Liberty Foods’ sales have grown steadily. In 2000, the company acquired a second plant in Sigourney, IA from Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods Group LLC is a leading packaged foods company headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, owned by The Blackstone Group. Pinnacle Foods is a key player in the shelf stable and frozen food categories and their products can be found in more than 85% of American households.The company...
to meet rising orders
Order (business)
In business or commerce, an order is a stated intention, either spoken or written, to engage in a commercial transaction for specific products or services. From a buyer's point of view it expresses the intention to buy and is called a purchase order. From a seller's point of view it expresses the...
. The company grew again in April, 2003 when it opened a processing plant in Mount Pleasant, IA which was later expanded in 2004. Company leadership changed in 2004 as Ed Garrett was named president and COO when Rutledge resigned to take a position with another growers' organization. In 2006 the company entered into a marketing alliance agreement with Midvale, Utah
Midvale, Utah
Midvale is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 27,029 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Midvale is located at ....
based Norbest Foods.
Labor episode
In 2004, workers at the West Liberty plant considered joining the United Food and Commercial Workers International UnionUnited Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including agriculture, health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile, G4S Security, chemical...
(UFCW). On July 1, 2004 the workers voted on whether they would be represented by UFCW Local 431. An initial tally of votes came out 301 in favor and 299 against union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
representation. However, the count did not include 13 ballots which were disputed by UFCW. The ballots were challenged on claims that they were cast by management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
personnel who would not be union members.
A National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...
(NLRB) hearing to confirm or invalidate the vote was scheduled for January 5, 2005 but then postponed until February 16, 2005. On February 1, 2005 the company and UFCW settled their dispute. UFCW withdrew its objections, and West Liberty Foods posted a notice
Notice
Notice is the legal concept in which a party is made aware of a legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice , actual notice, constructive notice, and implied notice....
that they would not close the plant or fire workers if employees unionized. This resulted in a final vote count of 303 to 308 against union representation.
UFCW Local 431 held a second vote at the West Liberty plant on July 15, 2005. The vote was 231 to 322 against unionization.
In 2009, the company paid US$58,613.75 to Labor Information Services, an anti-union management services company connected to The Burke Group
The Burke Group
The Burke Group is a U.S.-based international management consultancy established in 1982 with headquarters in Los Angeles. The Burke Group describes itself as an "international leader" in guiding management during union recognition campaigns. TBG provides commercial services to private and public...
, to provide consultants who met directly with workers "either individually or in group meetings...regarding union issues."
Plants
West Liberty plant
The West Liberty Plant is a 270000 square feet (25,083.8 m²) facility which slaughters and further processes turkey products. The slaughter operation converts approximately 20,000 turkeys per workdayWorking time
Working time is the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor. Unpaid labors such as personal housework are not considered part of the working week...
.
Louis H. Rich, purchased the West Liberty plant, a former tomato canning facility, in 1943, when he decided to expand the operations of the Rock Island Produce Company, located on 9th Street in Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
. The plant was converted to a poultry, including chickens and turkeys, slaughter facility in 1946 and refocused by Rich's sons, Norman and Martin, on turkey in 1949. The plant was first expanded in 1960. Oscar Mayer acquired the plant, through its purchase of Louis Rich, Inc., in 1979 and used it for turkey production until selling the plant in 1996.
Mount Pleasant plant
The Mount Pleasant plant is a 85000 square feet (7,896.8 m²) facility that is used for slicing cooked cheeseCheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
, turkey, chicken, beef, pork and other products. The plant employs approximately 500 people working in three shifts. A 68000 square feet (6,317.4 m²) Millard Refrigerated Services facility is located adjacent to the Mount Pleasant plant. The two facilities are connected, and product is immediately transferred by conveyor
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
from the plant to cold storage when packaging is complete.
The design and operation of the Mount Pleasant plant to are intended decrease potential hazards to food safety. WLF representatives have stated that the goal of the Mount Pleasant plant is to create a pathogen
Pathogen
A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...
-free environment. Because company officials believe that the food safety aspects of the plant are unique in the meat industry, they submitted the plant design for patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
approval through the U.S. Patent Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
. The Mount Pleasant plant is located approximately 50 miles (80.5 km) from either the West Liberty or Sigourney plants. This reduces the likelihood that pathogens will be carried either by air or foot traffic from a raw production area to Mount Pleasant's ready to eat production.
The Mount Pleasant facility consists of approximately 20 individual processing cells that are separated from one another and are set up so that they could operate as individual meat slicing facilities. Before anti-microbial flooring
Flooring
Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface...
was poured, the cells were erected with stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
anti-microbial
Antimicrobial
An anti-microbial is a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. Antimicrobial drugs either kill microbes or prevent the growth of microbes...
walls that are built into the floor. Each processing cell has independent refrigeration and drainage
Drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.-Early history:...
systems. The refrigeration systems filter
Air filter
A particulate air filter is a device composed of fibrous materials which removes solid particulates such as dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria from the air. A chemical air filter consists of an absorbent or catalyst for the removal of airborne molecular contaminants such as volatile organic compounds...
the cell's air and maintain positive air pressure
Pressure
Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
at 38 °F (3.3 °C), and the drainage systems are sealed off and flooded with sanitizers nightly.
During operation, fully cooked meat or cheese logs arrive sealed in impermeable casings
Casing (sausage)
Casing, sausage casing, or sausage skin is the material that encloses the filling of a sausage. Casings are divided into two categories, natural and artificial...
. The logs go through a casing sanitation step that involves being treated with a sanitizing liquid before the casings are removed from the logs. The logs then undergo a post-lethality treatment by passing through an infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
pasteurization
Pasteurization
Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...
tunnel to kill pathogens on the logs. The logs are then mechanically transferred to slicers, sliced, and placed in sealed packages that are transferred out of the processing cell. The mechanical transfers decrease the risk of product contamination by reducing handling of product by personnel .
Food safety is a factor in hiring employees at the Mount Pleasant facility. Before applying, potential employees must complete a 16 hour food safety training course through Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
. The class includes written tests which each applicant must pass before completing the course. On the job, employees must don a sealed clean room suit before entering slicing cells. The suits are cleaned and sealed in a clean room laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
facility in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
by the uniform company Cintas
Cintas
Cintas Corporation , based in Mason, Ohio, is a publicly traded company that operates more than 400 facilities throughout North America. The company provides specialized services to businesses, including the design and manufacturing of corporate identity uniform programs, entrance mats, restroom...
. Employees replace the clean suit each time they leave the cell so each employee averages five suits per day.
Sigourney plant
The Sigourney plant is no longer active, and has been closed. The remaining employees were released as of Wed. March 18, 2009.Tremonton, Utah plant
As of 2006, West Liberty Foods plans to build a plant in Tremonton, UtahTremonton, Utah
Tremonton is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 7,647 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Tremonton is located at ....
. The plant will not slaughter, but the 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²) facility will allot 93000 square feet (8,640 m²) for processing and 74000 square feet (6,874.8 m²) for slicing a variety of meat products. The company broke ground for the facility in October, 2006. It is expected to begin production in July 2007. When completed, the plant will be the first in North America to slice 10 ft (3 m) slicing logs. The plant will initially have ten slicing cells allowing production of 150 million pounds per year and will eventually add ten more cells to double the plant's capaicty. At full capacity, the plant will employ more than 500 people. Similar to the Mount Pleasant plant, a 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) Millard Refrigerated Services facility will be built adjacent to the Tremonton plant for warehouse storage of refrigerated and frozen products.
Initially, the company investigated sites for the new plant in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. It requested US$5.2 million in tax incentives Utah to build in Pleasant View, Utah
Pleasant View, Utah
Pleasant View is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. The population was 5,632 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. On April 26, 2006 Utah's Department of Community and Economic Development approved a US$2 million tax-rebate over 10 years. The incentives were conditioned on the new jobs paying a certain level above the county median wage, offering health insurance, and the company staying in Utah for 10 years. Pleasant View offered another US$1.4-US$1.8 million dollars in incentives. However, construction in Pleasant View became impossible when it was discovered that much of the site consisted of wetland areas. After this development, the state held the incentive offer open provided that West Liberty Foods could find another suitable site that met Utah's requirements.
On July 29, 2006, the company announced that they would build the new plant in Tremonton, Utah. The tax incentives will total an 80% property tax break, but Tremonton is projected to experience a US$508 thousand financial benefit over 12 years after the plant is completed. Of the 500 jobs at the plant, 300 are expected to pay between US$21,500 and US$26,875. The rest of the jobs will pay more with about 100 paying around US$37,000.
Awards
West Liberty Foods has received a number of awards from various organizations.- 2001 - Subway Supplier of the Year
- 2003 - Paul Hill honored by the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
- 2005 - Economic Vision Award from USDAUnited States Department of AgricultureThe United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
Rural Development, Best Business RecyclingRecyclingRecycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
Program award from Iowa Recycling Association, Dedicated Services Award from Subway - 2006 - Ed Garrett named "Executive of the Year" by The National Provisioner, Mount Pleasant and Sigourney plants receive Safety Awards from Iowa-Illinois Safety Council, a chapter of the National Safety CouncilNational Safety CouncilThe National Safety Council is a 501 nonprofit, nongovernmental public service organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressional charter in 1953...
- 2007 - Quality Gold Standard Award from Subway
Hormel
Hormel
Hormel Foods Corporation is a food company based in southeastern Minnesota , perhaps best known as the producer of Spam luncheon meat. The company was founded as George A. Hormel & Company in Austin, Minnesota, U.S., by George A. Hormel in 1891. The company changed its name to Hormel Foods...
Spirit of Excellence Award in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
- 2008 - Subway Supply Chain Partner Award - Iowa-Illinois Safety Council Safety Award -Food Quality Award