Danish Crown, a leading pork processing company based in Randers, Denmark, is forging ahead with plans to expand its pork processing capacity through the establishment of a new facility in Vejen. The decision to build this new facility comes in response to the increasing supplies of pigs from farmers, which has created a need for additional deboning capacity within the company.
The new facility in Vejen is primarily aimed at catering to the export market, with a focus on selling finished pork products to lucrative markets in Asia. Danish Crown envisions the Vejen plant as a strategic hub for its export operations, allowing the company to distribute fresh products within Europe while also exporting frozen products to customers worldwide. This flexibility in production and distribution is a key priority for Danish Crown as it seeks to expand its market reach and meet the growing demand for its products.
To support the operations of the new facility, Danish Crown plans to hire approximately 100 new employees at the Vejen location. Niels Ulrich Duedahl, the group CEO of Danish Crown, expressed his excitement about the expansion, attributing the need for more hands to the steady increase in pig supplies for slaughter. By strategically expanding production in Denmark, Danish Crown aims to streamline its operations and enhance its ability to serve both local and international markets effectively.
Scheduled to commence operations on 1 October this year, the Vejen plant is expected to debone around 60,000 pork fore ends per week. The raw materials for the facility will be sourced from Danish Crown’s existing slaughterhouses in Horsens, Herning, Rønne, and Blans near Sønderborg. The new facility will be housed within buildings already owned by Danish Crown, occupying part of the 14,000 square meters of premises acquired by the company in 2023.
The decision to invest in the Vejen facility follows an internal reorganization at Danish Crown, where the company divided its core business into three separate divisions: Danish Crown Industry, Danish Crown Foods, and Danish Crown UK. Jesper Sørensen, Senior Vice President of production at Danish Crown Industry, emphasized the need for expanding deboning capacity to enhance efficiency and reduce complexity at the company’s abattoirs.
Danish Crown has initiated the process of obtaining regulatory approvals for the project and anticipates securing the necessary permits by the end of the first quarter of the year. Once approvals are in place, production at the Vejen facility will commence on a two-shift basis from 1 October. The company is optimistic about the prospects of tapping into the Asian markets with its new pork processing facility, positioning itself for further growth and success in the global pork industry.
This article was adapted from the original post “Danish Crown eyes Asia markets with new pork facility” published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand.
