April 21, 2006

West Liberty, Iowa - Three years following the completion of their state-of-the-art slicing facility in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, West Liberty Foods has announced that it will be opening a fourth facility to be located in Utah.  Construction of the plant will start in 90 days with operations scheduled for May 2007.  To continue its emphasis on food safety, this plant will essentially be three separate facilities: slicing, log fabrication/ready-to-eat chicken, and cold storage distribution.  Slaughter will not take place on the premises.   

The 67,000 square foot ready-to-eat slicing facility will host 10 individual production cells. In addition, the building will consist of a 70,000 square foot log fabrication facility that will also be home to ready-to-eat chicken processing.  At full capacity, the plant will be able to further process more than 1.6 million lbs. of protein per week and will create 500 new jobs.  

West Liberty Foods has continued its alliance with Millard Refrigerated Services of Omaha, Nebraska, to build an adjacent cold storage warehouse that will include both refrigerated and frozen capacities.  

“This is an exciting time for our company as we branch out to the western marketplace,” said Ed Garrett, President and CEO. “The ready-to-eat chicken line will provide us the opportunity to introduce and service new product lines to our current customers.”  

West Liberty Foods, L.L.C. is a leading co-packer, private label manufacturer and foodservice supplier of sliced processed meat and poultry products.    

For More Information Contact:
Janelle Plantz, Marketing Manager
Phone: (319) 627-6131
E-mail: janelle.plantz@wlfoods.com