Frimesa, a Brazilian cooperative traditionally known for its dairy products and ham, is planning to invest BRL 2.5 billion (approximately €736 million) in pork meat production, O Estado de S.Paulo has reported.
According to the publication, the company aims to become a national reference in pork meat by 2030.
"From the end of 2018, all our production will be traceable, with quality certification from animal food and welfare to staff work-life-balance," said company's CEO, Elias José Zydek, to O Estado de S.Paulo.
Today, Frimesa employees 1,050 farmers, and slaughters seven thousand pigs per day. By 2028, the cooperative hopes to triple daily production.
To reach that volume, the cooperative is to soon commence building a new meat processing plant in Assis Chateaubriand, a city in the southern State of Paraná, not far from the company's headquarters. The plant, which should be completed in the next year, will generate 3,500 jobs and will cost an average of BRL 800 million (approximately €236 million).
With 90% of its meat production going to the internal market, the cooperative is optimistic that pork consumption in Brazil will rise in the next years, despite a 4.9% decrease in 2016, due to the tough economic recession the country has been facing in the latest years.
In 2016, the company produced around 350,000 tonnes of meat and saw its profits rise 13% compared to the previous year.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Josiane Lang. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
