SMITHFIELD, Va. — Smithfield Foods announced that it is investing more than $45 million to expand its blast cell cold storage capabilities at its processing facility in Tar Heel, N.C.

The investment will create approximately 30 new jobs at the Tar Heel facility as well as new employment positions within Smithfield’s logistics partner.

This expansion will increase the facility’s capacity by 140 million pounds starting in 2018. This project provides additional capacity to support the company’s ongoing growth and aligns with its mission to have best-in-class operations.

Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including SmithfieldⓇ, EckrichⓇ, Nathan’s FamousⓇ, FarmlandⓇ, ArmourⓇ, John MorrellⓇ, Cook’sⓇ, KretschmarⓇ, GwaltneyⓇ, Curly’sⓇ, MargheritaⓇ, CarandoⓇ, Healthy OnesⓇ, KrakusⓇ, MorlinyⓇ and BerlinkiⓇ.

Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.