Cargill in Springdale Closes Turkey Deal

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) 765 views 

On Aug. 27, Cargill North American Turkey Operations, also known as Cargill Honeysuckle White, bought the turkey and chicken processing subsidiaries of Rocco Enterprises Inc. for an undisclosed amount. As part of the contract, Cargill Honeysuckle White immediately sold the chicken processing portion of the business to George’s Inc. in Springdale.

A Springdale-headquartered unit of Cargill Inc., Cargill Honeysuckle White employs 1,200 people in Northwest Arkansas.

George’s will maintain Rocco’s plants in Dayton and Timberville, Va., and Rocco’s turkey-product brand names of Shady Brook Farms and Marval.

Cargill Honeysuckle White also recently leased a Prestage Farms Inc. turkey-processing plant in St. Pauls, N.C. According to www.cargill.com, the plant is expected to process 85 million pounds of turkey annually and employ 200 people. Prestage will supply the turkeys for processing.