FDBusiness.com

Moy Park, Northern Ireland’s largest food manufacturer, has officially opened a new turkey processing facility at its site in Ballymena. The £21m world class premises is part of a phased four-year, £37m investment project, supported by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund, which was announced in May 2010 and aims to achieve external sales of £154m by 2013.

The investment has resulted in a 65,000 sq ft factory extension which will allow the company to produce one million fresh turkeys for the Christmas period.  The expansion will secure 150 permanent and 500 seasonal jobs at Moy Park Ballymena, and will also provide secondary employment opportunities for turkey growers to supply the increased capacity.

The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Ballymena is an important step in allowing Moy Park to increase production capability and develop new added value products.

“This new facility forms a key part of Moy Park’s wider strategy which aims to grow and secure our market position. The highly advanced facility will allow us to meet the needs of new and existing customers while investigating new product concepts and increasing our production of consumer led poultry products for UK and European markets,” says Nigel Dunlop, managing director of Moy Park.

Owned by Brazil-based meat group Marfrig, Moy Park employs around 3,700 people in Northern Ireland and earlier this year acquired rival food group O’Kane Poultry.

CAPTION:

Pictured at the official opening of Moy Park’s £21m turkey processing plant in Ballymena are (l-r): Tony O’Neill, executive director of Moy Park Ballymena; Arlene Foster MLA, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and investment; and Nigel Dunop, chief executive of Moy Park.