Rosderra Irish Meats Group today announced an investment programme that it said will create up to 120 jobs at a pigmeat processing plant in Edenderry, Co Offaly.
The investment will involve the rebuilding of the section of the processing plant that was destroyed by fire in August 2007 and will include the processing, packing and despatch operations. Clearance of the site has already begun.
The new sections will be completed by November 2008, with the immediate creation of 50-60 new jobs. This number will grow to approximately 120 when the plant is running at full capacity.
There are currently 250 staff employed in activities associated with the plant, and Rosderra said the investment announced today secures those jobs.
Rosderra Meats chief executive Jim Hanley said; “When completed, this will be one of the most modern pigmeat processing plant in Europe, and it will have all the relevant quality standards required for global markets.
In its first year of operations, Rosderra Meats said, it will slaughter 1.3 million pigs, which represents 50 per cent of the pigs slaughtered in the country. The company forecasts a turnover of in excess of €200 million in its first year.
Rosderra Meats was established by the management team that acquired the Glanbia Meats Division in February 2008.