Smithfield Foods to reopen pork processing facility in South Dakota

US-based meat processing company Smithfield Foods has announced that it will resume operations at its pork processing facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after it was closed due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

The decision to reopen the facility comes after the company received confirmation from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the facility is in full compliance according to all CDC and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance.

US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said: “President Trump took decisive action last week to ensure America’s food supply remained stable.

“These meat processing facilities implemented CDC and OSHA guidance quickly and effectively, providing uniform health and safety standards so their employees know they are operating in a safe environment.

“I want to thank these patriotic meat processing facility workers who are returning to work to make sure that America’s producers and ranchers can bring their product to market and the American people can have food to eat.”

The Sioux Falls facility is said to be one of the largest pork processing facilities in the US and represents 4% to 5% of the US pork production.

With 3,700 employees, the facility produces 130 million servings of food a week or 18 million servings a day.

Smithfield Foods also added that it will begin phase-wise operations at the facility, with the harvest floor scheduled to reopen on 11 May. The company anticipates that the facility will be fully operational by this month.

In another development, Smithfield Foods said that it will undertake retooling process at its plant located in Virginia. Going forward, the plant will produce fresh pork and bacon products for the US retail, foodservice and industrial channels.

In addition to the domestic market, the products manufactured at the Virginia facility were exported to overseas markets, including China, Korea, Mexico and Vietnam.