Danish Crown to build world's most modern pork plant
company claims will be the world's most modern pork processing
plant. The facility will be built at Horsens, Denmark, and when
construction has been completed in just over two years' time it
will be the workplace of some 1,370 employees
Danish Crown is about to begin work on the construction of what the company claims will be the world's most modern pork processing plant.
The large pork processing plant will be built at Horsens, Denmark, and when construction has been completed in just over two years' time the facility will be the workplace of some 1,370 employees who will have the task of slaughtering and cutting 75,000 pigs each week.
Initiation of the project was given the go ahead when the Board of Representatives voted in favour of the proposal to invest in the new processing plant with a price tag of over DKK 2 billion (€270m). The new facility has been on the drawing board for 18 months, in which time a team of about 50 engineers, architects, and other consultants have been planning the processing plant.
"The decision to build the plant is a signal that we believe in the future of Danish pig production. It has been 25 years since a new pig processing plant was last built in Denmark but since we initiated the planning phase we have not experienced any deterioration of the basis on which we based that planning; on the contrary, through the merger with Steff-Houlberg we have acquired an even stronger basis for such a massive investment," said Niels Mikkelsen, the Chairman of the Board of Danish Crown.
"We also believe this is the right decision in relation to the competitive situation we are facing in the world market. Danish pig production is in the competitive vanguard, and we have to protect that position by future-proofing our production apparatus. With this new pork processing plant our members will acquire a facility that will be a great technical and economic asset to the company for many years to come.
"The facility will be a highly advanced plant in which we will make use of all the technical and environmental innovations generated in recent years."
The new pork processing plant at Horsens is part of a larger structural plan for pig slaughtering in Danish Crown. In addition to the new facility, production will be expanded at Holstebro and Grindsted, and capacity increases have already been implemented at Blans and Sæby, whereas the slaughterhouses at Lemvig and Struer are being shut down. The greater slaughtering capacity at the new Horsens facility will be offset by shutting down killing lines in other DC slaughterhouses at a later time; this includes the old slaughterhouse at Horsens which will be shut down completely in connection with the construction of the new pork processing plant.
