Tyson Foods Opens New Fully Cooked Food Production Plant in Virginia

DANVILLE, Va. — Tyson Foods officially opened a new $300-million fully cooked food production facility in Danville, Va., delivering on its strategy of accelerating long-term growth, operating as efficiently as possible and investing in its poultry business. It is one of the company’s most automated plants to date, marking the deployment of innovation pilots and prototypes at scale.

The 325,000-square-foot facility will produce approximately four million pounds of fully cooked poultry products weekly.

Located in the Cane Creek Centre, a local business park owned by the city of Danville and Pittsylvania County, the facility has created nearly 400 new jobs for the southeastern Virginia region.

“Danville represents a significant commitment to the region, and we take our responsibility to enhance the communities where we live and work seriously,” said Donnie King, president and CEO, Tyson Foods. “This plant is also a significant step toward our ongoing goal of operational excellence by investing in innovative technology and automation. This facility delivers on our commitment to ensuring best in class service for our customers and accelerating our long-term growth.”

The facility features high-speed automated case packing lines and high-speed robotic case palletizing units. The technology helps to maximize operational efficiency and increase overall team member safety, Tyson reported. It also includes a product inspection process that incorporates metal detection, X-ray and vision grading to ensure consumers receive high-quality products.

The Danville facility is the company’s first at-scale integration of wearable armband devices to improve worker health, safety and productivity. The award-winning solution, for every frontline team member, integrates technology featuring sensors that relay environmental data to safety managers to better identify risk exposures.

“The combination of our team and technology at Danville will strengthen our ability to better meet demand for retail and foodservice fully cooked Tyson brand products,” said Wes Morris, group president, poultry, Tyson Foods. “The Danville plant incorporates the latest technology that brings real-time intelligence to our processes, products and workplace experience for team members.”

Tyson Foods has partnered with Danville Community College to create a Maintenance Technology training program to support the field of industrial maintenance.