On October 27, JBS will open two plants at its industrial complex in the city of Rolândia, in the state of Paraná. In a site covering 257,000 square meters, with 54,000 square meters of built area, the plant employs 4,500 people, and will allow Seara to advance its expansion strategy in value-added products, particularly in the chicken breading segment, where it already has over 30% market share, and also in sausages, for which it has ambitious plans. The automated units are some of the brand's most modern in the country and are part of the USD 1.6 billion investment plan announced by JBS in 2019.

"Delivering the expansion of this complex is a very significant step for JBS and Seara's businesses in Brazil and worldwide. Not only because it will become one of our most modern production plants in the country, but also because it represents another step in our successful long-term investment strategy in our multi-protein platform, which is very much focused on high value-added foods. Whatever the product, we want to offer innovation and quality to win consumer preference," says Gilberto Tomazoni, global CEO of JBS.

Over the last two years, JBS has been strengthening its position in high value-added products. For example, in the European and American markets, with the acquisitions of the Sunnyvalley, Pilgrim's Food Masters and King's Group brands, as well as with the construction of Principe's Italian specialties factory in Missouri, in the United States. The expansion of Rolândia's industrial complex is part of this initiative.

In March this year, one of the factories in the Rolândia complex went into operation. On that occasion, Seara launched its new breaded chicken line. Now, in this second stage, the company is going to change its position in the sausage market.

"We're going to expand our sausage production capacity, highlighting the differentials already present in our products: innovation, quality and flavor. In the long run, we're going to increase our portfolio and challenge the market to grow with us in this segment too, as we're already doing with chicken breading. All this thanks to the high technology embedded in this plant," says João Campos, CEO of Seara.

Before the new plants, the industrial complex had around 3,800 employees. With the 2023 expansion, three production lines are already in operation, two for breaded products and one for sausages, adding 700 new jobs. The plant has the capacity to expand even further, with another seven lines for breaded products and another three for sausages. This expansion will be defined according to business growth and market demand. When this happens, the unit will have as much as 6,000 employees.

In the new JBS plant in Rolândia, sausage production will take place in a dedicated area of 23,000 square meters. One of the messages that Seara will take to the public is about its products' recipe and industrial process, which include smoking among its differentials. This will be possible thanks to the state-of-the-art factory.

Brazil's most modern

The new JBS plant in the city of Rolândia will be Seara's most automated plant in Brazil and one of JBS' most modern in the world, in line with global health and safety standards. As well as having the second largest sausage cooking and smoking oven in the world (the first is in Romania), the plant will also have robots for the production and packaging conveyors. In addition, it is enabled to use artificial intelligence and cloud data storage.

The plant was born with sustainability protocols, such as rainwater collection, use of electric vehicles for internal transit, solar energy generation in the parking lot, and reuse of cellulose waste from the industrial process to be transformed into fuel and/or compost, among other solutions.

The Rolândia expansion reinforces JBS' position in the state of Paraná, which is already an important hub for the company's activities. According to a recent survey by Fipe (Foundation Institute of Economic Research) via Nereus (Nucleus for Regional and Urban Economics, of the University of São Paulo), JBS, together with its production chain, accounts for 1.6% of Paraná's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and contributes to generating 2.1% of the jobs in the state. Seara's plants in Paraná currently have 14,000 employees and generate income of over USD 160 million a year, considering payroll alone.

New level of breaded products

When JBS and Seara launched their new line of breaded products last March, offering seven options based on chicken breast and thigh cuts, the aim was to give the category a new meaning. Seara's 100%-chicken breaded line, on sale in retail and wholesale chains countrywide, includes products such as Chicken Crispy,

Chicken Supreme, breaded fillet, breaded sasami fillet, crispy and spicy drumstick, crispy and juicy drumstick, and lightly spiced chicken strips.

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JBS SA published this content on 01 November 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 November 2023 15:16:06 UTC.