Walmart has officially opened its first owned-and-operated beef processing plant, company officials announced late last month.
The world’s largest retailer originally outlined plans for the case-ready beef facility in suburban Kansas City just over two years ago. The Olathe, Kansas, plant, at more than 300,000 square feet in size, will package and distribute cuts of Angus beef sourced from Nebraska-based Sustainable Beef LLC to Walmart locations across the Midwest. Walmart made an equity investment in Sustainable Beef in 2022.
Walmart officials said the facility represented a “pivotal step” in its efforts to develop an “end-to-end” Angus beef supply chain.
The project is expected to create more than 600 jobs.
“This is the first case-ready facility fully owned and operated by Walmart, and that milestone ensures we’re able to bring more consistency, more transparency and more value to our customers,” John Laney, Walmart’s executive vice president for food in the U.S., said in a statement.