Meat&Poultry - June 2012 - 73

In-Plant Profile

15-plus-year company veteran “We harvest about 28,000 birds a day.” Cargill’s Waco complex also processes a range of value-added beef, pork and chicken. “The bulk of the beef we’re doing here today is in the form of diced product we’ll distribute to industrial customers,” says Paul
Carter

expanding the sprinkler system. FY 2011 capital expenditure projects totaled more than $2.5 million and included acquiring injection equipment, packaging equipment, a bowl chopper, whole-muscle portioning equipment, brine waste reduction equipment plus an offal auger, among other things.

didn’t miss a beat. In the last six years, we’ve invested heavily over here.” Once raw materials enter this area, they are either injected or mixed. If the latter, the protein will likely go through a grinder and undergo brining. “Products can go a lot of different ways here,” O’Leary says.

O’Leary, operations manager

and 20-year Waco complex veteran. “The bulk of pork is in ham products. Chicken is primarily deli products.” Products made annually at the Waco complex (in descending order of total lbs.) include turkey, approximately 50 million lbs. (66.1 percent of the total production mix); pork and chicken, more than 10 million lbs. each (15.4 percent and 13 percent, respectively); and beef, more than 4 million lbs. (5.7 percent). Retail products total more than 60 million lbs. (or 76.3 percent of the total product mix) per year while commercial products amount to almost 20 million lbs. (23.7 percent). Further processing is budgeted at 80 million lbs. per year; whole-bird processing is budgeted at 105 million lbs. per year. The Waco complex is divided into whole-bird harvesting/processing, 38,550 sq. ft.; further-processed raw products, 71,800 sq. ft.; and furtherprocessed cooked product, 37,200 sq. ft.

“What makes us successful is our ability to control our process plus craftsmanship.”
O’Leary, who manages t hree shifts (two processing, one cleaning/ sanitation) per day, five days a week for further processing, says peak season for further-processed products is May through September. In t he furt her-processed/raw products area of the complex, new stainless-steel walls and ceilings were recently installed. “We did the installation while we were running, and we process 300,000 to 400,000 lbs. of raw products a day,” O’Leary says. “We This processing area must undergo complete washdowns between processing different species. “I have to shut that line down to do a full washdown before moving onto the next specie,” O’Leary says. “We do that every day. It takes about 45 minutes.” Visual appeal is key for pre-cooked products. “We can color in ovens in stockinettes with smoke to transfer during the cook cycle,” O’Leary says. “We incorporate liquid-smoke applications and can apply different

Invest for success
Cargill has invested heavily in this complex. In 2010, $2.7 million was earmarked to improve fi re resistance by installing upgraded wall panels and

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