Last month, OSI Group Poultry Development Co. in Shandong Province celebrated the grand opening of a new modern feed mill located in Rushan. With an annual capacity of 600,000 metric tons, this new facility is now one of China’s largest feed mills in operation and is another step forward for OSI's state-of-the-art, fully vertically integrated poultry business in the Asia-Pacific region.
OSI began its poultry operation in China in 2010 and will reach a slaughtering capacity of 100 million birds per year by 2014, while employing more than 1,500 people. China's rapidly expanding appetite for safe, quality animal proteins amidst disease concerns supported OSI's decision to go vertical in the poultry business.
The celebration marked an end to the project that started fourteen months earlier.
"This is an end, but also a new beginning for OSI and the people of Rushan," said Bill Weimer, EVP and CFO of the OSI Group based in Chicago, IL, USA. Weimer was the guest of honor at the ribbon cutting to mark the opening of this new facility and was joined by several senior officials from the Rushan city government, as well as representatives from other OSI divisions.
Stefan Chen, GM of OSI's Poultry Vertical Integration division in China, outlined the importance of controlled animal protein systems to ensure the country's overall food safety and security.
“We are building one of China's most modern vertically integrated poultry operations using the latest on-farm and in-plant technologies,” Chen said. “This allows us to develop a sustainable business model for the future through efficiencies of scale and best practices, along with significant bio-security and food safety measures."
OSI opened its first plant in China in 1992, in Beijing. The company today employs more than 3,500 people across its meat and vegetable operations in China. Its entire Asia-Pacific footprint also includes Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, India and Australia. OSI was an official supplier to the 2008 Olympic Village in Beijing and has received numerous food quality and innovation awards from its key customers across the Asia-Pacific region and in several other countries around the globe.
Source: OSI Group LLC