RANDERS, DENMARK – Danish Crown, the largest pork processor in Europe, announced that it plans to hire 375 new employees to keep up with the foreign demand for pork, specifically from Asia.

The company said this was the largest recruitment since it opened its Horsens facility over 15 years ago.

“We need more people to slaughter, debone and pack our goods,” said Per Laurese, Danish Crown Pork production director. “Our expectation is that we will teach a large part of the 375 new employees from scratch, so if you have a passion for craftsmanship and quality, in other words, there is a really good chance of getting a job now.”

Danish Crown added that Denmark has seen a 3% increase in pork production since 2019 and expects more now with Germany being affected by an African swine fever outbreak in September.

Currently, Germany cannot export to many countries outside of Europe. So, Danish Crown said it sees an opportunity to produce more product in the country.

The pork producer expects to increase its output of pigs by more than 15,000 per week compared to what it forecast last month.

Danish Crown said it expects to see a big uptick in exports to China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and other countries in Southeast Asia.

The company has around 8,000 employees in Denmark and a total of 23,000 employees in the world.