Smithfield Foods has retooled its hometown pork-packing plant to produce more of the cuts favored by U.S. consumers instead of the meats that helped its Chinese sales boom.
Retooling the plant on the northern edge of the town is aimed at producing more bacon, Smithfield variety hams and fresh pork, said executive vice president Keira Lombardo.
Meat packing companies, including Smithfield Foods, have been criticized for increasing shipments of pork to China this year. But Lombardo has said most of what it exports are cuts that American consumers shun, including tongue, kidneys, stomach, and feet. Few packaged meats — U.S. staples such as ham, bacon and sausage — are exported, and none are shipped to China, Lombardo said.
Total U.S. pork exports to China were up 147% from year ago levels in June, but declined by 33% from May’s record exports of 253.3 million pounds, a Daily Press review of U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics found. Exports to China amounted to just under 9% of total U.S. pork production in the second quarter of this year.
Retooling the Smithfield plant came as the company incurred $350 million in COVID-19 related costs during the spring.
Smithfield has paid some 7,000 workers nationwide even while it shuttered six of its plants to contain COVID-19 outbreaks; none were laid off or furloughed. Lombardo said.
The company has also offered paid leave to nearly 3,000 employees who are over 60 or were at high risk of complications from COVID-19, she said. All in all, those employee-related costs totaled $195 million during the second quarter, Smithfield said.
It spent another $135 million on masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment, as well as hand sanitizing stations, mass thermal scanning systems, physical barriers and other protective measures including slowing down production lines and changing production practices.
Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com
