Walmart opens case-ready beef facility in Kansas
Gov. Laura Kelly (pictured above) joined state and local leaders as well as Walmart leadership June 27 to celebrate the grand opening of Walmart’s first-ever fully owned and operated case-ready beef facility in Olathe, Kansas.
The new facility brings 667 new jobs to surrounding area, higher quality beef sold in Walmart stores across the Midwest, and increased transparency and efficiency in the supply chain for Angus beef.
“Kansas has long been at the forefront of the agriculture industry, and Walmart’s investment in Olathe is further driving our success,” Kelly said in a press release. “Through food production and supply chain innovations, we are proud to partner with Walmart to transform how we feed communities across our state and the region.”
The 300,000+ square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is the product of a $257 million new capital investment. The facility will process fresh beef into case-ready Angus cuts, packaged and ready for retail, and then distribute the cuts to 600 stores across 14 states.
The meat will be slaughtered at Sustainable Beef LLC, from North Platte, Nebraska. Earlier this year, the company recently opened a state-of-the-art plant. Cattle are sourced from no more than 250-mile radius to the plant. The majority of ownership in the business is local and producer-centric. Walmart, Bentonville, Arkansas, has a minority stake in the company.
In an April 2021 story in High Plains Journal, Nebraska rancher Rusty Kemp said the plant was the result of responding to a need and a market.
The McPherson County, Nebraska, cattle producer remembers a conversation he had on an overseas trade delegation trip to Japan and Vietnam. The trip, which was organized by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, occurred shortly after the August 2019 Tyson beef plant fire in Holcomb, Kansas, when the markets suffered a major decline in prices and the aftermath hit cattle producers hard. It led Kemp to have several conversations with the governor.
“The governor said, ‘Rusty if you can come up with a solution I will take a look at it and do what I can,’” Kemp said, as he remembered Ricketts telling him that finding a solution is the best way to solve a problem. Kemp remembered thinking to himself, “If we are going to solve this we have to do it ourselves.”
With that conversation in place, Kemp and a small group did their homework that ultimately led to Sustainable Beef LLC and a project that now has about 20 farm family operations committed to process beef in North Platte, Nebraska. The plant, in full operation, is estimated to process about 1,500 head of cattle a day. The business model commits to those owners who contract the cattle and Kemp said he does expect there will be some live buying too.
“Walmart’s decision to open its new case-ready facility in Olathe isn’t just a business investment—it’s a vote of confidence in our community and our workforce,” said Olathe Mayor John Bacon.“With over 600 new jobs being created, this facility will fuel local economic growth and reinforce Olathe’s position as a regional agricultural leader. We’re proud to work with Walmart and build more economic opportunity for our residents.”
During the grand opening, Walmart also awarded grants to several local organizations.
High Plains Journal Editor Dave Bergmeier contributed to this story.
