Initial employment levels, the company say, will be 150-200 people but ultimately this could rise to more than 400 across six to eight production lines.
Windsor bought the plant last spring. It had been built in 2003 by Mississippi Beef Processors and closed in August 2004, only three months after it opened. The closure cost the state of Mississippi $55 million when the owners defaulted on a state-guaranteed loan.
Windsor make frozen speciality foods for the food service, industrial and consumer market; brands include Fred’s for Starters (appetizers), Cripple Creek (barbecue), Jose Ole (Mexican), Golden Tiger (Asian) and Bernardini (Italian).
Failed US beef plant renovation
According to meatingplace.com, the long-running saga of the failed Mississippi meat processing plant seems finally to be nearing a happy ending. Houston, Texas-based Windsor Quality Food Co have begun renovations on the 140,000 square-foot facility in Oakland (Miss) and expect to begin production in the second half of the year.