Unemployment levels may help Sanderson find plant site

Before Sanderson Farms’ newest poultry plant in Tyler, Texas, was in operation, the company said it would like to build yet another poultry processing plant. But where has always been in question.

Roy Graber Headshot
(Sanderson Farms)
(Sanderson Farms)

Even when Sanderson Farms’ newest poultry plant in Tyler, Texas, was still under construction, the company said it would like to build yet another poultry processing plant. But where has always been in question.

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to a location is an available labor pool.

But with unemployment numbers up because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy, finding a place to build may have become a little easier, the company’s CEO, Joe F. Sanderson Jr., said while speaking during the Goldman Sachs Global Staples Forum on May 18.

“We might be able to locate a site a little easier than we have been,” said Sanderson. “There has not been a site available because of (the labor situation.) … We might be able to find some now.”

The Laurel, Mississippi-based Sanderson Farms has helped solidify its position as the third largest poultry company in the United States through the construction of new poultry complexes. The Tyler complex began operations in February 2019. The company also opened a new plant in St. Pauls, North Carolina, in 2017, and another in Palestine, Texas, in 2015.

When participating in another investor conference in June 2019, Sanderson spoke of the company’s desire to build a new plant, and finding a location was part of that conversation. He said at the time Sanderson Farms’ next construction project will likely not take place in Texas.

“We just did Texas. It’s time to move back east,” he said, adding that the Carolinas offered ideal locations because of their access to the northeast corridor. However, at the time, he did say there might be a challenge in finding a location there with a sufficient labor pool.

While speaking during the Goldman Sachs Global Staples Forum, Sanderson also spoke about how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect the size of the U.S. broiler breeder flock.

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