Walmart has opened its first-ever owned and operated case-ready beef processing facility in Olathe, Kan., continuing a yearslong effort to build an end-to-end supply chain for Angus beef.
The facility will process fresh beef into case-ready cuts, packaged and ready for retail, which will then be shipped directly to Walmart distribution centers to serve stores across the Midwest. The plant also will produce more than 600 new jobs in Olathe and the surrounding community.
The Olathe facility is not the first Walmart-owned beef processing plant, but it is the first that will be operated directly by Walmart. Walmart also has a case-ready facility in Georgia that is operated by FPL Food.
Walmart’s Move into Beef Production Aimed at Deliver ‘Consistent Quality and Value’
Walmart first announced its entry into the beef industry in 2019 through a series of partnerships with large U.S. ranchers like the Texas-based Prime Pursuits.
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“As clean labels, traceability and transparency become more and more important to customers, we’ve made plans to enter into the beef industry, creating an unmatched system that allows us to deliver consistent quality and value,” said Scott Neal, SVP of Meat at Walmart U.S. in a 2019 announcement. “By enlisting a number of best-in-class companies to take part in the supply chain, we’ll be able to provide customers with unprecedented quality, provide transparency throughout the supply chain and leverage the learnings we gain across our business.”
In 2022, Walmart made an equity investment in the Nebraska-based Sustainable Beef, a partnership of ranchers, feeders, processors and retailers committed to supply chain sustainability and efficiency in beef production. The new 300,000-square-foot Olathe plant will process beef sourced directly from Sustainable Beef.
“The opening of our new facility in Olathe, Kan. is centered on delivering more of what our customers want — affordable food and quality they can trust,” said John Laney, EVP of Food at Walmart U.S. in a statement. “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.”
The Olathe plant also will support Walmart’s pledge to invest $350 billion in U.S.-made products by 2031. Over two-thirds of Walmart’s annual spend already goes to products made, grown or assembled in the U.S., according to the company.
