Retailer Seeks Permit to Build Beef Plant in Kansas

Mystery surrounds a proposal to build a new 320,000 square-foot beef production facility in eastern Kansas.

Last week the Olathe (Kan.) City Council received a request for $257 million in industrial revenue bonds and tax phase-in from Delaware-based 1918 LLC, the subsidiary of an unidentified retailer with stores in half a dozen states. If approved, the proposed project would result in the construction of a state-of-the art, high-volume, case ready beef production facility that would employ nearly 700 workers with an expected payroll of $23.5 million, according to the report submitted to the city council.

According to a report in Meatingplace, the request was submitted by Grant Thornton LLP, a large accounting firm that was not at liberty to divulge the name of their client. Meatingplace also reported Olathe Chief Communications Officer Cody Kennedy said, in response to an inquiry, that, "As it’s early in the process, we’re not able to identify the organization. As Council was simply provided a report, there is more to the process which would later involve further guidance."

The report received by the city council proposes construction of the facility on a 60-acre site near the corner of 167 Street and 169 Highway in the southwest section of Olathe. The plant would be operated by a subsidiary of a retail company with businesses that include a full line of grocery products, including meat processing. The Olathe plant would not slaughter animals, but process and pack sub-primal cuts of beef into retail-ready cuts and products. Animals would be raised and slaughtered in another state.

“The company continually works to enhance the quality of its product, particularly meat, and creating an end-to-supply chain allows for better control of quality and transparency of its beef products,” according to the report.

The Olathe operation would take over production of the Choice Beef cuts for most company stores in states including Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to the documents. The plant would service the Choice Beef in 100% of Kansas stores.

“The operation would be unique to the food industry, combining the latest in meat production design with best-in-class packaging and material handling systems. The facility would use sustainable design solutions and provide the company with reliability and flexibility in raw material storage, track and trace, wet and dry processing, palatalizing and finished project handling systems,” the application stated.