Zhongpin Inc., a meat and food processing company based in Changge City, China, said it has completed the five-month expansion and improvement of its pork plant in Anyang, China.
Zhongpin invested approximately $6.6 million to improve the plant's pre-cooling room, slaughtering line equipment, refrigeration systems, sewage treatment system and ancillary facilities, according to the company.
With the expansion, Zhongpin noted that it has increased the plant's capacity by 35% to an annual capacity of 85,000 metric tons from the previous 63,000 metric tons.
"Our improvements in this facility, especially for chilled pork, demonstrate our already good success in Anyang and the north China market," said Xianfu Zhu, chairman and CEO of Zhongpin Inc. "We believe the new capacity will help us meet the rapidly growing demand for high-quality chilled pork that we expect in north China during the next several years."
The expansion project was the first since the Anyang plant began operations in September 2007, according to the company.
"In Zhongpin's marketing strategy, north China is one of the company's important markets," the company said in a news release. "The expansion in the Anyang plant will help satisfy the growing demand for Zhongpin's products in this important region."
