P400-M meat plant to rise in Mindanao

New York-based TLC Beatrice Foods is putting up a P400-million world-class integrated meat processing and cold storage facility in Mindanao.

The company, whose local unit, TLC Beatrice Foods Philippines Inc. is owned by Filipino-American businesswoman Loida Nicolas Lewis, will construct the plant in the sprawling Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

Earlier, TLC invested P40 million on a similar but smaller facility in Naga City in the Bicol region.

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. confirmed TLC’s plans in Mindanao.

"Loida’s group is definitely coming into our country in a big way," Lorenzo said in a report from Washington D.C. He was at the US capital Tuesday as part of President Arroyo’s official party doing a state visit.

"They’ll be here not just to help in the expansion of the livestock industry but to upgrade our public slaughterhouses and help hog raisers achieve better income," he added.

TLC Beatrice held a groundbreaking and contract-signing ceremony for the plant’s construction last May 6.

The 2,236-square meter Misamis plant will house a slaughterhouse, pig slaughter line, chilling room processing room, cold storage, preparation room, two blast freezers, packaging room, laboratory, dry storage and holding pen. The facility is capable of processing 500 hogs per day.

The plant will be a big boost to the local swine industry in Mindanao which has been declared as "foot-and-mouth" disease free.

Initially, TLC will hire about 200 workers and its end products will be distributed to to bulk meat processors, fast-food chains and restaurants, supermarkets, butcher shops and local municipal markets.

Lorenzo said TLC will help the country’s import-substitution drive because it will soon supply local meat processors with high grade pork which is still bring shipped by foreign suppliers since the local industry cannot supply the volume requirements and specifications of processors.

Lewis, during the groundbreaking rites in Misamis Oriental disclosed that "after we satisfy the local economy of its demand for pork, we will soon be exporting our products to other countries."

National Meat Inspection Commission executive director Efren Nuestro said TLC’s meat processing operation in the south will be a very positive development because it will usher the local mass production of safe and quality meat and meat products able to satisfy stringent international standards and meet demands of local consumers.