Meat giant JBS recently announced plans to invest 216 million reais ($37.8 million) across four Seara sites located in southeastern Brazil.
The investment primarily aims to drive the “modernisation and expansion” of these facilities, resulting in the creation of 278 direct jobs, as stated by JBS.
Operating under the Seara brand, the company markets a diverse range of products including chicken, pork, processed foods, and plant-based protein offerings.
Specifically, JBS will allocate funds to four sites in Brazil’s Santa Catarina region: a pork processing unit in Itapiranga; a poultry farm in Bom Retiro; and poultry processing facilities in Itaiópolis and Nova Veneza.
At the Itapiranga site, an investment of 98 million reais will enhance its pork processing capacity by 600 pigs daily.
In Bom Retiro, 89 million reais will support the construction of a new breeder farm, bolstering poultry operations.
Furthermore, 15 million reais will be dedicated to modernising the poultry plant in Itaiópolis, while the Nova Veneza facility will receive a 14 million reais upgrade aimed at boosting processing speed and expanding capacity for an additional 38,000 birds each day.
Seara CEO João Campos remarked: “It is a great pleasure to be here, to be part of the development, job creation, and extremely important work.
“The state of Santa Catarina is already a very important state for Seara’s operations, and this project helps us to continue investing even more in the state.”
This latest investment by JBS follows a series of international commitments to expand production capabilities.
During the announcement of the fourth-quarter results in March, JBS CEO Gilberto Tomazoni stated: “Our global diversification strategy remains intact, supported by continuous investment in innovation and brand development, which allows us to build a more resilient and higher-value portfolio.”
In March, the company allocated $100 million to build two meat factories in Vietnam, focused on producing beef, pork, and poultry products primarily from imported raw materials sourced from Brazil.
Also in February, JBS earmarked $200 million for enhancing beef production in Texas and Colorado.
At the conclusion of 2024, JBS announced a significant $2.5 billion investment aimed at establishing six meat-processing facilities in Nigeria over the next five years, including three for poultry, two for beef, and one for pork.
