SMITHFIELD, Va. — Smithfield Foods will no longer slaughter animals in the Virginia town where it was founded.
Chief Administrative Officer Keira Lombardo told The Virginian-Pilot on Monday that the decision comes after a months-long internal review. Company leaders determined that production would be shifted to other U.S. facilities.
In the meantime, the company will spend $5 million to reconfigure the facility to produce packaged meat like bacon. That means that hourly and salaried workers will be reassigned to other positions in the plant.
Smithfield’s meat processing facility employs around 1,900 people. Smithfield Foods was founded in 1936. It was bought by Chinese firm WH Group, then known as Shuanghui, in 2013.
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