Sigma Alimentos Purchases Iowa Plant to Increase Bar-S, FUD Processing Capacity

April 21, 2023

Purchase of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, facility eases some of the local pain of West Liberty Foods’ planned closure of its own plant in May.

Andy Hanacek

Mexican food processor Sigma Alimentos has acquired a food processing facility in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa — which local news outlets report as good news for the region, six months after the announcement by West Liberty Foods that it would shut down its facility on May 7 of this year (announced last October).

According to a news release from Sigma, it paid $12.4 million for the plant, which will manufacture lunchmeat for the Bar-S and FUD brands to be distributed nationwide. Sigma produces a wide portfolio of food products in North and South America and Europe, including packaged meats, cheese, yogurts, plant-based and other refrigerated and frozen foods.

The closure of the West Liberty facility would have caused a loss of 350 jobs, so this news is comforting to the local community — although a date has not yet been shared as to when Sigma expects to start operations at the facility.

Nowhere has it been officially confirmed that the facility Sigma purchased is the West Liberty plant.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.