Columbus Foods Slicing and Packaging Facility

Columbus Foods opened a new food slicing and packaging facility in Hayward, California, in 2011 to replace its previous facility that was destroyed by a fire in 2009. The state-of-the-art facility was built with an investment of $31 million and received funding from insurance proceeds. The plant has three production lines for slicing and packaging and incorporates advanced technologies to improve efficiency and ensure product safety. It includes specialized rooms and restricted process flows for hygienic zoning and utilizes high pressure processing (HPP) technology to kill microbials in the meat without using heat. The facility can process and pack approximately 17 million pounds of meat annually. Stellar, an engineering and construction company, was responsible for designing and building the facility, while other consultants provided expertise in areas such as USDA compliance, sanitation design, air handling equipment, and food safety.