Walmart Plans $257M Beef Packing Plant in Kansas

The meat aisle of a Walmart store in Emporia, Kansas, in August 2022 (Shutterstock)

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Tuesday that Walmart Inc. of Bentonville will be building a fully owned and operated case-ready beef plant in Olathe, Kansas, the first facility of its kind for the company.

Construction of the 330,000-SF facility will be a $257 million investment and will create 1,000 construction, design and fabrication jobs. Once the facility is completed, Walmart expects 667 new permanent jobs for the facility.

“Thanks to our work to make Kansas a top food and agricultural state, companies continue to invest in our communities and create high-paying jobs for Kansans,” Kelly said in a news release. “Walmart’s innovative new facility will support a more prosperous future for Olathe, for the Kansas city metro, and for our state as a whole.”

This facility follows a 2019 Walmart announcement of an end-to-end supply chain for Angus beef and a 2021 equity investment into Sustainable Beef LLC of North Platte, Nebraska.

Walmart expects the beef facility to break ground this year and be opened in 2025. It will be responsible for processing Angus cuts into case-ready beef products for Walmart stores across the midwest. Beef will continue to be provided by Sustainable Beef LLC.

“At Walmart, enhancing quality is integral to how we innovate,” Walmart Senior Vice President of Deli, Meat and Seafood David Baskin said in a news release. “Once opened, our case-ready beef facility in Olathe will mark an important step in our journey to create an end-to-end Angus beef supply chain, ensuring our customers have access to the high-quality meats they expect at the everyday low prices they rely on.”