Dive Brief:
- Clemens Food Group will build a new $255.7 million pork-processing plant in Coldwater Township, MI.
- The company, based in Hatfield, PA, will use the new factory to process hogs into bacon, ham, and other pork products.
- Construction will begin in 2015, and the plant is expected to open in 2017.
Dive Insight:
Although it's hard to remember today, the area around Detroit once housed a lot of meat processing facilities. But the last meat processor in the state closed up shop in 1998 as much of the state sank into financial difficulty.
But the demand for processing services never went away. Farmers in Michigan produce 2 million hogs a year. Clemens apparently sees opportunity in that, and Michigan residents will see some 810 jobs as a result.