Tyson Foods to open new meat plant in Sherman
Will spend approximately $100 million to renovate the former Oscar Mayer plant in Sherman.
01/02/05 Tyson Foods will open a major case ready meat plant in Sherman, Texas, employing as many as 1,600 people, Texas Governor Rick Perry and Tyson Chairman and CEO John Tyson have announced.
Tyson will spend approximately $100 million to renovate the former Oscar Mayer plant in Sherman. Initial operations are expected to begin in early 2006. The plant will be transformed into Tyson's largest case ready operation, producing pre-packaged cuts of fresh beef and pork that are ready for retail grocers to place directly into the meat case.
The 537,000 square foot plant was first opened by Oscar Mayer in 1974 and was used to produce bacon, hot dogs and sausage. Oscar Mayer closed the plant in 1998. The facility was purchased in 2000 by IBP, inc., a company that was subsequently acquired in 2001 by Tyson Foods and is now known as Tyson Fresh Meats.
Company officials plan to begin one shift of production in early 2006 and add another shift in early 2007. The growth of operations is expected to create up to 1,600 jobs over a two to three year period. Most of the jobs will involve cutting, trimming and packaging product. Others will include box handling and storage, maintenance, quality assurance and production management.
Tyson Fresh Meats has been actively involved in the development of case ready meats since the 1990s. The company began producing small quantities of pre-packaged beef and pork cuts at Council Bluffs on a test market basis in early 1999. The primary driving forces behind the growth of case-ready meats include enhanced product safety, quality and efficiency.
Tyson Foods, Inc., founded in 1935 with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork and the second-largest food company in the Fortune 500. The company produces a wide variety of protein-based and prepared food products, which are marketed under the "Powered by Tyson(TM)" strategy. Tyson is the recognized market leader in the retail and foodservice markets it serves, providing products and service to customers throughout the United States and more than 80 countries. Tyson has approximately 114,000 Team Members employed at more than 300 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world.
