Water and energy are key expenses for meat and poultry plant operators, but focusing on conservation can enable facilities to cut costs while maintaining performance levels.
By not taking adequate measures to cut water and energy use, which includes recirculating their resources and leveraging the optimal equipment and operating strategies, many plants are unnecessarily bolstering expenses while becoming more vulnerable to shortfalls in available supplies.
According to the Department of Labor (DOL), workers in the meat and poultry slaughtering and processing industries are experiencing fewer injuries and illnesses.
Voters for The National Provisioner’s Plant of the Year award this year faced a serious challenge, as each of the nominees — all processing facilities visited for cover stories from June 2015 through May 2016 — made a very strong case for winning the annual award.
Without a sharp focus on the food-safety tasks required during expansion or remodeling of a processing plant, a company could be setting itself up for failure before operation even begins.
Remodeling an existing meat and poultry facility can be exciting opportunity, but it also presents challenges related to the development of programs, policies and training.
Many meat and poultry producers are finding no good deed goes unpunished. While most operators are working to enhance food safety and improve product quality, their methods often entail an exorbitant consumption of energy and water.
The drive for optimal productivity is making automation increasingly important, and newer robotic technologies are among the machines set to play larger roles in meat and poultry plant operations.
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.
Too often business owners take an ostrich-like approach to the potential of natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes wreaking havoc on their company.