TLC Beatrice Foods puts up P40-M meat processing plant in Naga City

TLC Beatrice Foods Inc., a big New York-based agro-industrial company, is putting up a P40-million hi-tech integrated meat processing plant in Naga City in the Bicol region.

The company, through its local unit TLC Beatrice Foods Phils. Inc. started the construction of the facility last year and is scheduled to begin commercial operations by June this year.

The state-of-the-art facility is adjacent to the local slaughterhouse that is being is technically supervised by the National Meat Inspection Commission but is run by the city government.

The company’s operations will also involve the procurement of a minimum of 200 head of fattened hogs per day for slaughtering and processing into high-value pork choice cuts.

The products will be kept in modern storage facilities that include a blast chiller, blast freezer before these are distributed to various outlets in the Bicol region and Metro Manila.

"This is the company’s first integrated livestock project in the country. It indicates that our livestock industry, notably the swine sub-sector, has a lot of income potentials to offer even to foreigners," said Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr.

Over 1,200 families and beneficiary-partners stand to gain from the new project, giving local residents better income opportunities, especially for those who will be involved in hog production, abattoir operation, meat processing and distribution, Lorenzo said.

With the venture, individuals and households, including backyard hog raisers, can earn an additional monthly income ranging from P5,000 to P100,000, Lorenzo said, citing a report submitted to him by TLC Naga operations general manager Arsenio de Guzman.

As part of government’s assistance, NMIC will infuse some P2.5 million for the acquisition of various equipment and rehabilitation of existing facilities inside the Naga slaughterhouse.

The city government, for its part, will spend about P2 million to cover the abattoir’s overall physical repair.

The dilapidated abattoir’s repair is crucial to TLC’s operation because the government outfit will be rented out for a fee to the company for its own animal slaughter activities during the day, while the same facility can be used by the government for its own purpose from night until dawn, Lorenzo explained.

Citing reports furnished him by NMIC executive director Efren Nuestro and Bicol DA regional director Fe Laysa, the agriculture chief said TLC Beatrice’s new plant will feature meat processing facilities, offices and a holding pen for up to 400 head of pigs.

To complete the operation, NMIC will upgrade the Naga slaughterhouse by providing meat saws, rehabilitate its overhead rail and dehairing machines and repair of its boiler and electric stunner, while the city government will take charge of improving the building’s structure, Lorenzo said.