Tyson Foods intends to close two case-ready value-added meat plants, the company confirmed with WATT Global Media on November 10.
The affected facilities are in Jacksonville, Florida, and Columbia, South Carolina.
“We are making the difficult decision to close two of our case ready value-added plants,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We understand the impact of this decision on our team members. We will make every effort to offer them opportunities to remain with the company at other locations and will partner with state and local officials to provide additional resources. With a focus on optimizing our operational footprint, we are reallocating resources to operate as efficiently as possible, while maintaining ample capacity to serve our customers.”
The company did not disclose in its statement when the last days of operations at the facilities, but the Jacksonville Daily Record and Columbia’s WLTX TV revealed January 8, 2024, as the closure date for the plants in their respective communities.
This won’t be the first time Tyson Foods closed the facility in Columbia. In June of 2020, Tyson announced it would close the plant, which at the time employed about 150 people, and processed pork for taco meat and pizza toppings.
Then, in 2021, Tyson revealed that it would reopen and repurpose the plant, converting it into a meat-cutting facility that will produce retail ready, portioned packages of sliced, fresh beef and pork, as well as ground beef, for grocery and club stores in the eastern U.S. It estimated at the time that when reopened, it would employ about 330 people.
The Record reported that 219 people worked at the Jacksonville plant.
Tyson’s decision to close these two plants follows its decision to close six poultry plants within its network. Those affected plants were in Glen Allen, Virginia; Van Buren, Arkansas; North Little Rock, Arkansas; Dexter, Missouri; Noel, Missouri; and Corydon, Indiana.
