Sanderson Farms, the third largest broiler company in the United States, has grown rapidly this decade through the addition of new poultry processing plants.
The company, which opened a new plant in 2015 at Palestine, Texas, and another in 2017 at St. Pauls, North Carolina, is in the process of opening another poultry complex in Tyler, Texas. Speaking during a quarterly earnings call on December 20, Joe F. Sanderson Jr., CEO of Sanderson Farms, said that there are no plans for another new plant in 2019. However, building a new facility is still on the company’s agenda for the not-so-distant future.
“We will focus our efforts on getting Tyler opened and maturing both tray pack and foodservice sales. We have opened three new process and plants over the last six years, and with no new construction currently envisioned during 2019, we will work to return the operations and sales at those new plants,” Sanderson said.
“The new Tyler complex demonstrates our optimism and our confidence in the long-term success for Sanderson Farms and our industry. The new complex will add value for our investors, opportunities for our employees and their communities and more high-quality products for new customers. We are committed to continue our growth beyond Tyler, but we will take this year to work on our operations and sales at our existing facilities.”
When asked by one analyst if his comments about taking 2019 off in terms of building new facilities also meant that the company was not actively examining potential sites for new plants, Sanderson said that was not the case.
“We’re actively looking for a site today and tomorrow,” Sanderson said on the Thursday before Christmas. “And we’ll take the weekend off and will be actively looking for a site.”
But Sanderson reaffirmed that the higher priorities are not only ramping up the new facility in Tyler and getting employees at the Palestine, St. Pauls and Tyler plants properly trained. Other priorities mentioned included producing and selling new products, and taking care of workers at its plant in St. Pauls and Kinston, North Carolina, who were displaced during Hurricane Florence earlier in 2018.
