Walmart Beef Plant Tied to Investment in Sustainable Beef LLC
Walmart revealed Tuesday it plans to open a $257 million beef processing and packaging facility in Olathe, Kan. The plant is designed to package and distribute products from the new Sustainable Beef LLC plant that is under construction in North Platte, Neb.
Walmart announced in August of last year that it would take a minority stake in Sustainable Beef, a rancher-owned startup expected to be operational late next year. Sustainable Beef expects to process 1,500 head per day and up to 100,000 per year when fully operational.
Read More: Meet the Young Producer Behind Sustainable Beef
Walmart plans to break ground on the Olathe plant, its first-ever owned and operated case-ready beef facility, later this year to be operational in 2025. City documents suggest Walmart intends to build a 320,000 square foot facility that will create over 660 new jobs over the next 10 years.
“At Walmart, enhancing quality is integral to how we innovate,” David Baskin, Senior Vice President, Deli, Meat & Seafood at Walmart, said in a press release. “Once opened, our case-ready beef facility in Olathe will mark an important next step in our journey to create an end-to-end Angus beef supply chain, ensuring our customers have access to the high-quality meats they expect at the everyday low prices they rely on.”
The new facility will take over production of Choice Beef cuts for Walmart stores in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
According to city documents the average starting salary for both skilled and unskilled workers would be approximately $35,500 and starting salaries for management would be approximately $94,500.
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