Tyson Opens Fully Cooked Food Production Plant

Tyson Foods has opened a new $300 million fully cooked food production facility in Danville, VA.

The 325,000-sq.-ft facility will produce approximately 4 million pounds of premium quality, fully cooked poultry products weekly to meet the increasing demand for iconic Tyson brand products, both in retail and foodservice.

The facility has created nearly 400 new jobs for the southeastern Virginia region.

“Danville represents a significant commitment to the region and we take our responsibility to enhance the communities where we live and work seriously. This plant is also a significant step toward our ongoing goal of operational excellence by investing in innovative technology and automation,” said Donnie King, president and CEO, Tyson Foods. “This facility delivers on our commitment to ensuring best in class service for our customers and accelerating our long-term growth.”

The Danville facility is one of the company’s most highly automated plants to date, featuring high-speed automated case packing lines and high-speed robotic case palletizing units. The technology helps to maximize operational efficiency and increase overall team member safety. The facility also includes a product inspection process that incorporates metal detection, X-ray and vision grading to ensure consumers receive high-quality products.

This is the company’s first at-scale integration of wearable armband devices to improve worker health, safety, and productivity. The solution, for every frontline team member, integrates technology featuring sensors that relay environmental data to safety managers to better identify risk exposures.

“The combination of our team and technology at Danville will strengthen our ability to better meet demand for retail and foodservice fully cooked Tyson brand products,” said Wes Morris, group president, Poultry, Tyson Foods. “The Danville plant incorporates the latest technology that brings real-time intelligence to our processes, products and workplace experience for team members.”

Tyson Foods is also partnering with Danville Community College to create a Maintenance Technology training program to support the growing field of industrial maintenance with competitive pay and many opportunities throughout the company.

The poultry company has been in the news for most of this year, due to facility closures around the country, including plants in Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida, and South Carolina. Tyson also laid off 10% of its corporate staff in April.