Randers, 23 May 2013
Last winter was tough for construction workers and contractors with lots of snow and lots of windy and very cold weather. However, this has not stopped all those involved in the construction of the largest cattle slaughterhouse in Europe, who today came together for a celebratory topping-out ceremony. When completed by mid-March 2014, the slaughterhouse will therefore only be just over one month delayed.
The Division Director of DC Beef was clearly proud as he welcomed everybody and thanked them for their committed efforts to the project:
- When I go for a walk on site and start talking with some of you builders, I am often struck by the fact that not that many of you know exactly what it is we are doing here. For many, this is perhaps just another building in a long string of jobs.
But, my friends, you are quite mistaken! Without perhaps being fully aware of it , you are actually writing a new chapter in the history of the Danish slaughterhouse sector.
You are building the largest and most modern cattle slaughterhouse in Northern Europe, and I'm fairly confident that not that many of you will ever experience anything quite like it again.
The last time a new cattle slaughterhouse was built in Denmark was in 1972 in Aalborg, which by the way is also one of ours, explained Lorenz Hansen, Director of DC Beef.
Investment of almost 700 million Danish kroner
But what does it take to build such a gigantic slaughterhouse? Lorenz Hansen was happy to enlighten everybody:
You have to ....
• Shift 50,000 cubic metres of earth
• Take delivery of 30,000 cubic metres of sand, or 1,500 truckloads
• Construct a 17,000-square-metre structure under roof
• Lay 6 km of sewers
• Erect 2,500 concrete elements in the production section
• Erect 550 concrete elements in the administration section
• Install 15-20 km of drains and pipes
And, of course, invest almost 700 million Danish kroner. But then, Danish Crown’s members will hopefully be the proud owners of the largest and most modern cattle slaughterhouse this side of the Alps.
Thank-you to owners
Lorenz Hansen therefore also made sure to thank Danish Crown's members for their visionary support of the project:
- I am extremely proud of the trust that the farmers have placed in us and which has made this project possible. Right now I am part of a group of totally motivated employees who are eagerly awaiting the chance to prove that building this enormous slaughterhouse was the right decision. And I am looking forward to showing the owners that the investment will lead to better settlement prices for their cattle.
To round off, the crowd gave three cheers for Danish Crown, Holsted.
Additional info for fact lovers:
• When fully run in, the slaughterhouse will receive 4,500 animals for slaughter a week, corresponding to about half the weekly cattle slaughterings in Denmark.
• The hourly throughput will be 110 animals, or twice what DC Beef's existing facilities are handling.
• Approx. 10,000 quartered animals will be deboned a week, corresponding to 500 animals a day.
• 500 tonnes of beef will be minced a week. This equates to 600,000 trays of the sort on sale in supermarkets, or approx. 60% of all the minced beef consumed in Denmark each week.