Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. Announces Strategic Investment in New Egg Products Manufacturing Company
October 04 2021 - 4:05PM
Business Wire
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) today announced the
Company’s Board of Directors has approved a strategic investment
that will specialize in high value commercial product solutions
targeting specific needs in the food industry. The initial focus
will include hard-cooked and extended shelf-life egg product lines.
The new entity, located in Neosho, Missouri, will operate as
MeadowCreek Foods, LLC (“MeadowCreek”).
Cal-Maine Foods will capitalize MeadowCreek with up to $18.5
million in debt and equity to purchase property and equipment and
to fund working capital. Cal-Maine Foods will retain a controlling
interest in the venture. The MeadowCreek management team will be
led by Ronald B. Bennett. Cal-Maine Foods will serve as the
preferred provider to supply specialty and conventional eggs that
MeadowCreek needs to manufacture egg products. MeadowCreek’s
marketing plan will expand Cal-Maine Food’s reach in the
foodservice and retail marketplace and bring new opportunities in
the restaurant, institutional and industrial food products
arena.
Bennett, who will serve as President of MeadowCreek, brings 30
years of egg industry experience to the new venture. Bennett most
recently joined with DeJong Operational Management & Consulting
to create, develop, and install operational improvements and
solutions to high value ready-to-eat food and biotech companies.
Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Prime Foods
from 2011 - 2019. Bennett also served as Director of Egg Products
at Moark, LLC, which he joined in 1998. Bennett began his career in
the egg products division of Cal-Maine Foods in 1991.
Commenting on the announcement, Dolph Baker, chairman and chief
executive officer of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., stated, “We are pleased
to announce our strategic investment in MeadowCreek, which provides
Cal-Maine Foods an opportunity to not only grow our presence in the
egg products sector, but position ourselves to better seek out
solutions for economically feeding a growing world population.
While approximately 30 percent of produced eggs are currently
directed to further processing in the U.S., as specialty eggs
become more popular, we see the demand for more specialty egg
products including cage-free products, to provide for industrial,
food service and retail needs. We believe MeadowCreek will play an
important role in meeting this demand and look forward to our
partnership with Ronald and his operations team in support of this
venture.”
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. is primarily engaged in the production,
grading, packing, marketing and sale of fresh shell eggs, including
conventional, cage-free, organic, pasture-raised, free range and
nutritionally enhanced eggs. The Company, which is headquartered in
Ridgeland, Mississippi, is the largest producer and distributor of
fresh shell eggs in the United States and sells the majority of its
shell eggs in states across the southwestern, southeastern,
mid-western and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
Statements contained in this press release that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements as that term is
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The forward-looking statements are based on management’s current
intent, belief, expectations, estimates and projections regarding
our company and our industry. These statements are not guarantees
of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions
and other factors that are difficult to predict and may be beyond
our control. The factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements
include, among others, (i) the risk factors set forth in the
Company’s SEC filings (including its Annual Reports on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K),
(ii) the risks and hazards inherent in the shell egg business
(including disease, pests, weather conditions and potential for
recall), (iii) changes in the demand for and market prices of shell
eggs and feed costs, (iv) our ability to predict and meet demand
for cage-free and other specialty eggs, (v) risks, changes or
obligations that could result from our future acquisition of new
flocks or businesses and risks or changes that may cause conditions
to completing a pending acquisition not to be met,(vi) risks
relating to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, and (vii) adverse
results in pending litigation matters. SEC filings may be obtained
from the SEC or the Company’s website, www.calmainefoods.com.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements because, while we believe the
assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are
reasonable, there can be no assurance that these forward-looking
statements will prove to be accurate. Further, the forward-looking
statements included herein are only made as of the respective dates
thereof, or if no date is stated, as of the date hereof. Except as
otherwise required by law, we disclaim any intent or obligation to
publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211004005903/en/
Dolph Baker, Chairman and CEO Max P. Bowman, Vice President and
CFO (601) 948-6813
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