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PackagingLatest headlines

Editor's Note

The Case for Case-Ready

By Michael Costa
Michael Costa
April 18, 2022

When I visited Poland last November at the invite of Meat from Europe to tour some of their beef and pork plants, one observation I heard often from owners was that the money in meat today lies in case-ready products, which are consumer-friendly cuts packaged and shipped to stores in retail containers. Conversely, there is very little profit in harvesting and processing primal cuts (due to a number of European economic and environmental factors) unless you catered to a specialty market, like halal meat. 

Here in the States, the same profit potential is true for retail-ready meat, but on a much, much larger scale than Poland. Case-ready meats—which are simply opened, seasoned if necessary and cooked—are big business and continue to grow year-over-year due to consumer convenience demands, and also a labor shortage behind the meat counter of many grocery stores.

Companies like Tyson are at the forefront of the case-ready revolution, and, with a clear vision toward the future, recently opened a 600,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art case-ready beef and pork facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah. The Eagle Mountain plant is likely the most technologically advanced case-ready meat facility in the world, and our cover story takes a closer look at all the innovations inside the building.

Tyson’s $300 million Eagle Mountain plant was also our Tier 2 winner (overall investment between $150 million and $349 million) in our annual Plant of the Year contest. Much more to come in 2022 as we announce more Plant of the Year winners, so stay tuned!


KEYWORDS: case-ready meat RTE meat

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Michael costa 200

Michael Costa is the Former Editor-in-Chief of Food Engineering, and the former Editor-in-Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods. Previously, he was Editorial Director of Hotel F&B magazine for 12 years, covering the business of food and beverage in lodging, including restaurants, bars, catering and more, for readers working in hotels, casinos and cruise ships. During his time at Hotel F&B, he guided the publication to six FOLIO: magazine Eddie awards. Before joining Hotel F&B in 2007, Michael attended culinary school at the Illinois Institute of Art while working in the kitchen and in F&B purchasing at the 1,218-room Sheraton Grand Chicago. Prior to that, he worked for six years in TV news as a reporter at network affiliates around the country. Michael is a journalism graduate of Columbia College in Chicago.

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