Plant City-based Smithfield Packing Co. Inc., a $2-billion subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc. of Smithfield, VA, bought the Madison County plant for an undisclosed price. But North Florida retail brokers familiar with the property tell GlobeSt.com the number was "in the eight-digit range."
Under the deal's terms, disclosed by Winn-Dixie president and CEO Frank Lazaran, Smithfield will continue to provide Winn-Dixie with products produced at the Dixie Packers facility. Those products include smoked hams, hot dogs, sausage, sliced lunch meats and other processed meat products.
Lazaran calls the sale "an important step forward with the strategic initiatives we announced last January to improve the company's competitive positioning." The Winn-Dixie chief executive says his company ranks 162 on the Fortune 500 list and is one of the largest food retailers in the US.
During the Aug. 13 Hurricane Charley crisis in Florida, Smithfield Packing donated 140,000 pounds of sliced turkey, spiral hams, hot dogs, lunch meats and other processed turkey and port products to hurricane victims in Polk County through Second Harvest of Tampa Bay, a 22-year-old, nationally affiliated food bank. The $260,000 worth of meat products equate to about 560,000 meals, according to Smithfield officials.
Smithfield Foods Inc. is a diversified food company with annualized sales of $10 billion. The company produces and sells food products under about 50 brand names.
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