West Liberty Foods won the meat-processing lottery in 2014, when it purchased the former Quantum Foods facility in Bolingbrook, Ill. — a jackpot that already has paid dividends and has an aggressive growth plan in place.
In January 2016, a jackpot of historic proportions grabbed the attention of the nation — those who purchased Powerball tickets hoped the record $1.58 billion prize would land in their laps and change their fortunes. Three winning tickets were sold, forever rewriting the future for those ticketholders.
In the summer of 2014, some may remember the meat industry’s parallel to this recent Powerball analogy: a coveted jackpot, albeit not a record-setter per se, available to one lucky winner. The pursuit and purchase of the former Quantum Foods processing facilities in Bolingbrook, Ill., was something the industry watched carefully, and it was an outcome that figured to change the outlook for one company forever. Indeed, the future for West Liberty Foods changed instantly that summer, when the purchase was closed and the company’s path forward turned dramatically.