A Jacksonville, Fla., processing plant formerly owned by Tyson Foods has been purchased by Thomas Foods International USA (TFI USA) for $3.55 million, according to local news reports. TFI USA is part of Australian meat processor Thomas Foods International, which has operations in Canada, China, Japan, the UK and Europe, according to the company’s web site.
The Jacksonville facility will be the company’s second U.S. processing plant — with its Swedesboro, N.J., Lakeside Processing Facility producing more than 100 million pounds annually of prepackaged, retail-ready meat products for the retail marketplace. Its U.S. headquarters is in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The Bruss Co. (a division of Tyson), which had purchased the plant in 2012 for $1.5 million, sold the facility to TFI USA Properties LLC on Sept. 17, the report noted. TFI USA is expected to create up to 100 new jobs within the first three years of operation.
Tyson announced the closure of the case-ready beef-cutting operation (along with another plant in Columbia, S.C.) in November 2023, and the facility was scheduled to shut down Jan. 8, 2024, resulting in the loss of 219 jobs at the time. The shutdowns were part of a massive, multi-year operations adjustment, through which Tyson shuttered numerous poultry and red meat facilities in order to get costs under control in response to a significant financial downturn for the company.
