SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Seaboard Triumph Foods (STF) has started the planned second production shift on Oct. 15 in Sioux City, Iowa. STF finalized plans for this shift on June 15.

The company projects that after a ramp-up period to reach full second-shift production the new facility will employ 2,400 people. A second shift has been running on a limited basis since May while the remaining hiring and training continued. At full two-shift capacity, the facility will process 21,000 market hogs daily.

“We’ve been onboarding and training on B-Shift the past several weeks, and the team’s performance has been exceptional,” said chief operating officer Mark Porter. “Now that B-Shift ramp up has officially begun, I continue to be just as impressed with the performance level and couldn’t be more proud of the results.”

The processing facility opened on Sept. 5, 2017. The plant produces a full line of fresh pork products for retail, foodservice, international and further processing markets. Seaboard will sell the pork under its PrairieFresh Premium Pork and Seaboard Farms brands. The plant will also supply Daily’s Premium Meats, which is jointly owned by Seaboard Foods and Triumph Foods, with raw materials for its raw and precooked bacon products.

“From hiring and training to the start of the ramp, B-Shift has exceeded all expectations. Our matured team on first shift contributed to that success,” said general manager Stan Scott. “We look forward to growing our workforce to fill B-Shift positions as we continue the ramp up.”

Seaboard Triumph Foods reiterated that approximately 30 percent of the market hogs at the Sioux City plant are sourced from regional farmers who operate in alignment with Seaboard Foods’ and Triumph Foods’ animal care and environmental stewardship practices. The remaining hogs are supplied by Triumph Foods producer-owners and Seaboard Foods’ farms.

The company recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the new Sioux City facility which is the second-largest pork processing plant in the world. The STF project received a total capital investment of more than $330 million. 

STF is a joint venture owned equally by Seaboard Foods and Triumph Foods, which was formed to construct the new pork processing facility in Sioux City. Seaboard Foods is a subsidiary of Seaboard Corp. with a pork processing plant in Guymon, Oklahoma. Triumph Foods is owned by pork producers with a pork processing plant in St. Joseph, Missouri.