Quality Refrigerated Services & LXE Case Study

The Worthington facility, acquired by Quality in December 2010, primarily handles fresh pork for JBS, the largest animal protein processor in the world. The 12 million-pound facility can handle 250,000 cases of meat. In the fall, approximately three million pounds of product or 60,000 cases, move in and out of the facility every week, with Quality providing all the inventory control and tracking to facilitate shipping of various products.

“A lot of product we handle is destined for export markets. Our customers look to us to provide excellent inventory and tracking to facilitate their shipments internationally. They need to utilize the entire animal to maintain a decent cost for the domestic supply,” says Mike Amundson, executive VP of Quality Refrigerated Services.

“Tracking food to its source has become a bigger and bigger issue with food safety,” he adds. The food safety focus is underscored by the number of foodborne disease outbreaks occurring from contami¬nated food. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year roughly one in six Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. In 2008 alone, 1,034 of these types of disease outbreaks were reported.