US AGRI-GIANT CARGILL is expanding its protein production capacity in the city of Chuzhou, East China’s Anhui province.
The new facility is equipped with two fully cooked protein production lines that will be able to produce 32,000t of chicken and other protein products every year.
It represents a $48.8m investment in the region, and follows the company committing $112m in April to expand a corn production plant in Songyuan, northeastern Jilin province.
The newly added production facility is expected to create 600 new jobs.
Cargill’s integrated poultry production facility in Chuzhou covers every stage of the supply chain, including breeding, raising, feed production, hatching, primary and further production.
Any product from the facility can be traced back at any point in its production process within two hours, according to the company.
Traceability and food safety are important to Chinese consumers, who have experienced serious contamination scares in recent years.
“This new investment will help Chuzhou and local farmers prosper as they work with us to deliver protein to dinner tables around the world,” said Marcel Smits, chairman of Cargill Asia Pacific.