Swift Prepared Foods opens $200m Italian meats and charcuterie production facility

Swift Prepared Foods, a subsidiary of JBS USA, has opened a Principe Foods facility for the production of Italian meats and charcuterie in Columbia, Missouri.

The company invested more than $200 million in the new 325,000-square-foot facility. Principe Foods has created 100 new jobs in the region and plans to hire 100-200 more people over the next year.

Governor Mike Parson commented: “We are excited to welcome Principe Foods to Missouri. More than 400 companies in the food industry are currently operating in Missouri, and that figure continues to grow thanks to world-class companies like JBS USA and Swift Prepared Foods investing in our state. This facility will provide many new opportunities for the mid-Missouri region, and we look forward to seeing the company succeed for years to come.”

“We are very pleased to celebrate the opening of this state-of-the-art Italian meats facility in Columbia, Missouri,” said Tom Lopez, president of Swift Prepared Foods. “This is the culmination of years of hard work and investment by our team and our partners in Missouri. We are grateful for the support we’ve received up to this point and look forward to the ongoing growth of this facility and the Principe Italia brand.”

Swift Prepared Foods announced plans to build the facility in April 2021 to meet increasing retail and foodservice demand for Italian meats and charcuterie. Columbia was selected as the location due to its “business-friendly environment and the ability to access raw materials and leverage synergies with existing strategic assets”.

The news follows the opening of a ready-to-eat, fully-cooked bacon production facility in Moberly, Missouri, in May 2021.