ProFood World Magazine Names New Clemens Food Group Plant Winner of Manufacturing Innovation Award

“This is a very exciting honor for Clemens Food Group,” said Doug Clemens, CEO of Clemens Food Group. “The Coldwater facility was an immense undertaking for a family-based company, but the strong collaboration between our partners, team members and the local community has positioned us for continued growth and success in Michigan and beyond.”

The state-of-the-art, highly automated Coldwater facility is the first greenfield project for Clemens in the company’s 123-year-old history.

“Clemens Food Group’s new facility in Coldwater is on the cutting edge of food and beverage technology by implementing highly automated and efficient systems as well as embracing food safety, animal welfare, worker safety and sustainability in its operations,” said Joyce Fassl, editor in chief at ProFood World.

Gray Construction completed the 650,000 s.f. fresh pork processing facility in 28 months, allowing Clemens to produce 12 million pounds of pork per week to feed the world. At full capacity, Clemens processes up to 11,000 hogs per shift and 2.6 million hogs annually. Apart from creating 830 jobs, the facility’s impact also enables the company’s market share to expand throughout North America and the world.

“We couldn’t be happier that the Clemens Coldwater facility is being recognized for the milestone plant it truly is,” said Stephen Gray, president and CEO of Gray Construction. “This facility raises the bar for the protein industry, and Gray is excited to have been part of it.”

Multiple factors were included as part of the judging criteria for ProFood World’s Manufacturing Innovation Awards including the plant’s high level of technology advancement in processing and packaging machinery, major efficiency and cost-savings, exceptional worker recruitment and engagement programs, and major line changeover, flexible manufacturing, food safety, sustainability and maintenance improvement achievements.

The award will be presented to Clemens Food Group on June 21 in Chicago at ProFood Live!, a new food and beverage manufacturing conference created by ProFood World. Visit www.profoodlive.com to register.

About Clemens Food Group

The Clemens Food Group, founded in 1895, is a sixth-generation, family-owned vertically coordinated pork production operation including farming, processing, transportation and logistics. The company’s heritage is deeply rooted in strong family values with a commitment to being responsible and contributing members of the communities where it operates, always keeping the highest degree of ethics, integrity and stewardship. As one of the leading pork processing companies in the U.S., the business focuses on supplying the utmost quality products to its partners via a responsive and sustainable system, while also providing advanced solutions that simplifies its partners’ operations.

For more information, visit https://clemensfoodgroup.com/.

About ProFood World Magazine

ProFood World meets the expanding information needs of manufacturing, engineering, operation and supply chain/logistics executives in the global food and beverage manufacturing industry. Industry’s most experienced journalists reports on news, trends, products and technologies in food safety, automation, processing, packaging, material handling and sustainability and an array of digital products.

For more information, visit https://www.profoodworld.com.

About Gray Construction

Gray Construction is a nationally ranked engineering, architecture and construction firm with nearly 60 years of experience in food and beverage, manufacturing, automotive, distribution and retail facility construction. Currently, Gray has several large projects that are under way or recently completed including: world-class DogStar® Kitchens for Champion Petfoods in Auburn, Ky., as well as custom-fitted NorthStar® Kitchens for Champion in Alberta, Canada; a state-of-the-art meat processing and packaging facility for Kraft Heinz recently named Food Engineering’s 2018 Plant of the Year in Davenport, Iowa; an award-winning bakery for Mondelēz International’s Enjoy Life Foods in Jeffersonville, Ind.; and a snack food manufacturing facility for More Than A Bakery in Versailles, Ky.

For more information on Gray, visit www.gray.com.