Tyson Foods opened its bacon-processing plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on 25 January 2024. Manufacturing Dive's 30 January report describes automated equipment used to move products and stack boxes at the new facility.
Investment, products and capacity
In its opening announcement, Tyson gives a $355 million investment, a 400,000-square-foot building and nearly 450 new jobs. The Warren County Kentucky Transpark facility serves both retail and foodservice customers.
- Products: Jimmy Dean and Wright Brand bacon.
- Expected weekly production: two million pounds.
- Product-development opportunities: different flavours, cuts and fully cooked bacon.
Automation along the production route
The equipment described by Manufacturing Dive includes robots for moving large pork bellies along production lines and packing or stacking boxes. Driverless forklifts and autonomous guided vehicles move goods through production zones.
From the construction announcement to opening
The project's groundbreaking took place on 2 February 2022, attended by company leaders and Kentucky governor Andy Beshear. At that stage, Tyson planned operation in late 2023. The January 2024 statement records the official opening, rather than repeating that earlier timetable as an accomplished date.
The 2022 announcement also identified existing Kentucky operations in Claryville, Albany and Robards, with more than 3,900 employees statewide at that time. Bowling Green adds a named bacon-production site to that historical operating footprint.
