Triumph Foods-Seaboard Foods’ Pork Processing Plant, Sioux City, Iowa, US

Seaboard Foods has collaborated with Triumph Foods for the construction of a new pork processing facility in Sioux City, Iowa, US.

The companies formed 50/50 joint venture (JV) Seaboard Triumph Foods (STF) in May 2015 for the project, which is one of the largest in Sioux City.

The facility complements two large-scale pork processing plants currently in operation in the US. It supplies both companies with premium-quality pork that meets food safety standards.

Site preparation work began in September 2015 and the plant became operational in September 2017. It generated approximately 1,100 employment opportunities, including 200 management positions and 900 production and maintenance positions.

The strategic location of the pork processing plant

The new pork processing plant was constructed on 250 acres of land in Bridgeport West Industrial Park, which is located north of the Sioux Gateway Airport along the Missouri River in Woodbury County, Iowa.

Sioux City was selected as it is an industrial location with good transportation infrastructure. It is also complemented by a local hog market and supported by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa State Government.

The city is also consistently ranked as a leading destination for the food processing industry, while the state is one of the leading pork producers and exporters in the US. In addition, it is home to a number of leading processed pork brands.

Pork processing facility background

A development agreement between City Council and Seaboard-Triumph includes the sale of the 250-acre property, tax incentives and approval of an application for state programme benefit through targeted, high-quality jobs and the 260E New Jobs programme.

The programme provides training to new employees in Iowa that are recruited by businesses expanding in the state.

In addition, the city also applied for aid to accomplish road improvements from the site to Interstate 29 under the IDOT RISE programme.

Pork processing plant technology and production

The new facility features modern architecture and customised landscaping. It also incorporates modern odour technologies and other environment-friendly design features.

It has the capacity to slaughter up to 12,000 hogs a day or three million hogs a year. The second shift operations at the plant are expected to begin in October 2018, which will enable up to 21,000 hogs a day to be processed.

The facility produces a full line of fresh pork products for international and retail markets, foodservice operators, grocery stores, further processors and other distributors throughout the US and other non-domestic markets.

Seaboard Foods is responsible for marketing and selling pork products, along with those produced at plants in St Joseph, Missouri, and Guymon, Oklahoma.

Seaboard Food sells its products in domestic markets under the brand name PrairieFresh Premium Pork and in international markets under the brand names Seaboard Farms and St Joe Pork.

Financing and contractors for the joint venture project

The project attracted an investment of $264m. The property cost was more than $100m, making it one of the biggest projects in Sioux City history.

Iowa’s economic development authority board approved the city’s application for $13.2m of tax credits and tax incentives for the project. The $13.2m incentive package includes $7.6m in targeted jobs and tax credits over a ten-year period, as well as $2.3m in investment tax credits and $3.2m in refunds of sales and use tax on construction materials under the state’s high-quality job creation programme (HQJC).

Epstein was contracted by STF to deliver design-build services for the pork processing plant.

Marketing commentary on Triumph Foods and Seaboard Foods partnership

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Seaboard Corporation Seaboard Foods is an integrated food company that aligned its farm operations and pork processing with Triumph Foods.

The companies manage processes throughout the entire value chain, including genetics, pig nutrition, animal care, food safety and product quality to ensure the delivery of consistently high-quality pork products.

As a combined entity, the firms are the second biggest hog producers and among the top five pork processors in the US.