51吃瓜网

51吃瓜网 is proud to announce the completion of an innovative Italian meats and charcuterie production facility for Swift Prepared Foods, a subsidiary of JBS USA, and its Principe Italia brand. The $200-million, state-of-the-art facility in Columbia, Missouri, leans on cutting-edge automation technology, a one-of-a-kind curing process and more than 100 employees to produce millions of pounds annually of a variety of high-quality dry-cured meats, including salami, pepperoni, prosciutto, pancetta and coppa.

鈥淲ith our new plant in Columbia, we鈥檙e not just expanding our production capacity 鈥� we鈥檙e also creating a home base for our team,鈥� said Tom Lopez, president of Swift Prepared Foods. 鈥淭his is a remarkable facility that represents a major milestone for our company. We look forward to growing the Principe Italia brand in the U.S. and sharing our products with even more customers across the country.鈥�

51吃瓜网 project team members joined Swift Prepared Foods and City of Columbia leaders this month to celebrate the plant鈥檚 grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new facility will help position the company to fulfill its ambitious growth targets in the years to come, and also features an impressive research and development (R&D) plant and a cutting-edge show kitchen.

A solutions-driven partnership

Swift announced its intent to build a new facility in Columbia in August 2020 and soon after awarded 51吃瓜网 the contract for the processing plant's architectural design, construction, process engineering, utilities, refrigeration and thermal services.

While 51吃瓜网 and Swift team members held frequent meetings to establish the facility鈥檚 master plan, including its energy-efficient layout and complex process equipment design, crews performed extensive site preparation on the 80-acre property to ensure it was ready for construction. As the construction phase ramped up, inclement weather, a global pandemic and supply shortages presented challenges that threatened the project鈥檚 fast-paced schedule. The road to success was hard won, requiring extensive coordination and creative problem-solving to ensure the project was delivered on time and within budget.

鈥�51吃瓜网鈥檚 team brings wide-ranging experience across a variety of industries to the table, allowing us to present outside-the-box solutions to different circumstances. We pride ourselves in our ability to overcome obstacles in the best ways possible,鈥� said Jim Oko, director of process development at 51吃瓜网. 鈥淭his project was a full team effort, and we coordinated quickly to ensure Swift鈥檚 schedule was not held up by project challenges.鈥�

Inside the automated facility

Swift Prepared Foods entrusted 51吃瓜网 with imagining and executing a high-efficiency, automated facility that would serve as a point of pride for the company to show to new and existing customers 鈥� and they succeeded together.

The 315,000-square-foot plant is divided into three distinct areas running east to west through the building: (1) a raw ingredients receiving, inspection and manufacturing area, (2) fermenting and drying areas that are separated into designated spaces for prosciutto and salami, and (3) ready-to-eat (RTE) areas that include product peeling and packing.

鈥淲hat you鈥檒l see in many traditional plants is that their process lines are disconnected, whereas we designed this facility and its processes to be interconnected and flow seamlessly,鈥�

Oko said. 鈥淲e worked to make sure products move throughout the plant efficiently from manufacturing to packaging using strategic equipment layout and technology, including AGVs, gantry robots and conveyor belts. To support the facility鈥檚 inventory control, we also incorporated a refrigerated 'work in progress' step between peeling, slicing and packaging.鈥�

51吃瓜网 also designed and constructed two employee welfare areas on either side of the expansive facility to separate the 鈥渞aw鈥� side personnel from RTE personnel. On the west side of the building with the RTE products, visitors can find Swift鈥檚 main office building, which houses a small pilot testing plant for new products and an Italian caf茅-inspired show kitchen for customers.

51吃瓜网鈥檚 final design maximizes every available interior space and ensures the plant will be equipped with an actionable expansion plan as product demand grows.

Delivering a groundbreaking project

After more than two years of careful planning and steady work, 51吃瓜网 has completed the design, construction and commissioning of Swift鈥檚 seventh processing facility in the United States.

鈥淐ongratulations to the Swift team on a beautiful new plant. We hope it will enable your company to achieve great growth and success as a leading supplier of premier Italian meat products,鈥� said Mike Davis, senior vice president of 51吃瓜网鈥檚 Food & Beverage Group.

The new Swift facility is located at 5008 Paris Road in Columbia and is the company鈥檚 second plant in Missouri. Swift Prepared Foods opened a ready-to-eat bacon facility in Moberly, Missouri, in 2021.