Wayne Farms has completed a major upgrade to and expansion of its Decatur Prepared Foods facility.
Highlights include the installation of a new cooked line and supporting spiral freezer, and production will increase by more than 42 million pounds annually.
The new line can produce both steamed and roasted bone-in wing products and features state-of-the industry processing and packaging technology from industry leaders GEA, JBT and JBS. The line’s twin-drum oven set up and spiral freezer was designed to serve existing customers and accommodate new business.
“Consumption is up and demand for prepared, easy-to-serve chicken has never been higher,” said Tom Bell, Wayne Farms’ vice president of prepared foods. “With this new line, the opportunities for Wayne Farms and for our customers goes to a new level.”
The line’s new twin-drum oven system improves both processing yield and product end quality, by uniformly distributing heat via hot air across the spiral oven’s two rotating tiers. The oven is electrically-driven, a more efficient and consistent design than traditional thermal fluid systems using oil and gas.
