The plant, which has been opened at the company’s existing complex in Efremov, 300km south of Moscow, will supply McDonald’s restaurants across Russia. It has the capacity to produce 18,000 metric tonnes (t) of processed chicken products a year and has created 140 jobs in the area.
The facility brings Cargill’s total investment in Russia to nearly $900m. Its complex in Efremov includes a corn and wheat sweeteners plant, a vegetable oil refinery, a bottling facility and an animal feed mill. Oil from the refinery will be used in the poultry plant for the production of chicken nuggets and burgers.
Speaking at the opening ceremony for the new facility, Jeremy Graves, general manager of Cargill Meats Europe, said: “Cargill has had a strong business relationship with McDonald’s for many years and when sourcing locally became a key requirement for McDonald’s in Russia. We were pleased to be able to work together and help them find a solution.”
He added that Cargill had already started to develop supply partnerships with Russian poultry producers to ensure that it could source local chicken reared to the right quality, welfare and safety standards.
Irina Korshunova, supply chain and QA director of East Division and Russia at McDonald’s, said that it was pleased that Cargill would be supplying Russian McDonald’s customers with chicken products.
“We are confident that the successful partnership between McDonald’s and Cargill will continue to thrive with poultry production in Russia,” she added.