German poultry producer, PHW Group, has announced it will resume full production at its processing facility in a few weeks following a devastating fire in 2016.
According to PHW Group, the new slaughter and processing lines at the Oldenburger Geflügelspezialitäten GmbH plant in Lohne in Lower Saxony are scheduled to resume operations in two shifts soon. Testing has been carried out since September of last year in preparation for the imminent return to full production of the company’s range of Oldenburg poultry meat specialties for its retail customers.
Cost of the reconstruction is put at EUR140 million (US$168 million).
Announcing the plant’s return to production, the Group’s CEO, Peter Wesjohann, paid tribute to the employees, whose hard work and dedication led to the rapid rebuilding of the company in Lohne.
One year ago, the first pillar of the new slaughterhouse was erected, and up to 1,000 people in three shifts were involved at the peak of construction.
Wesjohann said that slaughter capacity for the new plant will be 270,000 birds per day.
There will be around 500 permanent employees at the plant, and following agreement with the workers’ council, a further 330 temporary workers at the new processing facility.
Although there were no human casualties, the poultry processing plant in Lohne was almost completely destroyed by the fire in March of 2016. Within days, PHW Group made the decision to rebuild the facility.
