Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale, on Tuesday signed an agreement with the Republic of Kazakhstan and private holding company Kusto Group to collaborate on the construction of a modern beef processing plant in Kazakhstan.
The publicly traded meat processor said the project could have an economic impact on the country of more than $1 billion. The plant is expected to have a harvest capacity of 2,000 head per day.
The agreement with Tyson and Kusto Group is part of a broader initiative by the Kazakhstan government to expand and modernize agriculture, beginning with meat production.
Tyson Foods officials have traveled to the country, and Prime Minister Askar Mamin and other representatives have been to Tyson’s headquarters and one of its major beef complexes.
Kusto Group, based in Singapore but founded in Kazakhstan, has an existing subsidiary with a leading position in beef production in the country.
“We are delighted to welcome Tyson Foods to Kazakhstan,” Mamin said in a news release. “Tyson is a world-class company with the expertise necessary to help Kazakhstan jump-start the transformation of our agro-protein capabilities and help us create an ecosystem that will increase our beef herd size and establish conditions to support thousands of new high-quality jobs in the country. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial collaboration.”
“We’re pleased to execute an agreement with the government of Kazakhstan and partner with Kusto,” Steve Stouffer, group president Tyson Fresh Meats, said. “This opportunity supports one of our growth strategies to expand Tyson’s global business, and we look forward to bringing our expertise and capabilities to the country of Kazakhstan.”
“At Kusto, we believe in the tremendous potential of Kazakhstan to transform into a global agricultural player, helping provide first class products for consumers around the world,” Yerkin Tatishev, chairman of the board of directors of Kusto Group, said in the release. “Together with Tyson Foods, we are taking a first step in that direction today with our beef operations and look forward to getting underway.”
Tyson Fresh Meats, based in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, operates beef plants in Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Texas and Washington. Its beef business generated $15.8 billion in sales in fiscal year 2019.
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