St. Joseph gains bacon factory, set to open next spring

A Montana-based meats company is building a $41.5 million pork products plant in St. Joseph, with production expected to begin next spring.

Daily’s Premium Meats said it expects to hire 215 during the first five years the plant operates. Construction of the 100,000 square foot building is slated to begin this summer.

The company makes a variety of pork products, including hams and sausages, but is known for its smoked bacon.

The new plant’s location will be across from a Triumph Foods’ pork processing plant. Triumph supplies Daily’s with the pork bellies from which the bacon is made.

Daily’s is jointly owned by Triumph Foods LLC based in St. Joseph and Seaboard Foods, which is owned by Merriam-based Seaboard Corp. Seaboard bought Daily’s in 2005 and sold half interest to Triumph Foods last year.

In an announcement, Daily’s president Kelly Hattan said the St. Joseph site was chosen in part for its proximity to the Triumph facility and because of the available workforce in St. Joseph.

The announcement said the jobs would pay an average of $32,154, plus benefits.

This will be Daily’s third facility, with the others in Missoula, Mont., and Salt Lake City. The company started as a retail meat market in 1893 and opened its second facility in 1992.

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 11:50 AM with the headline "St. Joseph gains bacon factory, set to open next spring."