GEA Food Solutions delivered, installed and commissioned two 1000 mm wide processing lines for the new Cargill integrated poultry operation in Lai’an in the Anhui province of China. On 2 September 2014, Cargill delivered its first shipment of chicken nuggets from one of the lines to McDonalds China, helping satisfy a sudden and unexpected increase in demand from the world’s leading quick service restaurant chain.
The first line processes chicken nuggets at a rate of 30 tons per day while the second line processes boneless and bone-in poultry products.
Christopher Langholz, president of the Business Unit Cargill Animal Protein China, commented, “This operation is strategically important to Cargill in China, meaning the timing is critical. So when an opportunity arose to start supplying McDonalds earlier than originally planned, we appreciated GEA’s commitment and ability to move things forward by eight weeks.”
The lines represent a € 10 million order for GEA Food Solutions, who worked closely with GEA Refrigeration Technology for the deepfreeze and cooling part of the project, worth an additional € 7 million.
Project manager for GEA Food Solutions Mikhail Volynkin: “China is an important region for both GEA and Cargill, and the success of this project has strengthened the long-standing relationship between our two companies. GEA Food Solutions has built up experience in many different countries already”. He added: “By using the experience gained in Europe, Russia and similar projects in Thailand, we were able to shave 8 weeks off the original deadline”.