What they needed
Prestige Foods of Iowa was not looking for technology for technology’s sake. The business was building a new high-capacity pork processing facility and wanted every part of the operation to support performance, payback and long-term reliability.
That made rendering a critical decision. At a plant processing 10,000 animals per shift, the team needed a system that could cook in real time with production rather than force rendering to keep running for two shifts to catch up with one. The plant had also made a clear commitment to the local community around environmental performance, especially odour control. On top of that, Prestige Foods of Iowa wanted better control over moisture, yield and process efficiency, plus a system that could be learned quickly and run sustainably in a tight labour market.
Why Haarslev
Haarslev stood out because the system matched the plant’s priorities from the start: throughput, odour control, automation and return on investment. Haarslev supplied and installed the rendering equipment from the ground up, supported computer training and helped develop operating procedures for the on-site team.
Once operators learned the key parameters to monitor, the system handled most of the process with only minor adjustments. That made training easier, even for people with no previous rendering experience, and helped the plant operate with a smaller labour force. For Prestige Foods of Iowa, the result was a modern rendering setup that kept pace with production, supported consistent product quality and strengthened a revenue stream too important to leave to compromise.
