Iowa processing plant using beefed up technology to raise its product value

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Iowa processing plant using beefed up technology to raise its product value

The founder of an Iowa-based beef processing facility says its technology will raise the value of its product.

CEO of Cattlemen’s Heritage Chad Tetinger tells Brownfield the plant will use age and source verified technology. “That’s vital. Knowing where the food comes from, where our food comes from. How it’s been handled, treated and all the above is vital,” he says. “Being able to identify high quality beef will allow us to pay more for such things.”

He says the plant will have fewer jobs compared to similar-sized facilities allowing employees to be more efficient and safer. “Spacing is very important with this technology,” Tetinger says. “The way we have the plant designed, right now, we have another wave of COVID-19 running through the country.  Our average distance between people in the plant is six foot or more.”

Tetinger says interest from foreign and domestic food distribution companies, restaurants and other retailers will allow for a larger return on a producer’s investment. “This is the kind of beef that is in high demand.  Frankly who we’ll sell to is a wide-open array of customers that we haven’t narrowed down our tech because we don’t need to today.”

The $450 million plant near Council Bluffs will process 400,000 head of cattle per year and will be online in 2023-24.

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