Renovations
Renovations
We want to thank our partners for this ability to grow with them. 2017 was exceptionally prosperous for Rantoul Foods. With this growth comes the need to update our old ways and explore new products, and we have certainly done so. In 2017, we began 3 new projects; a new and semi-automated cut floor, an animal bi-product conversion facility and a new CO2 stunner. Follow our journey below to learn about these projects and how they can benefit us together.
Cut Floor
Cut Floor
* Update: November 2018
Loin Puller
Features
Lasers detect exact placement for cutting
Automated as opposed to hand-trimmed
Separate loin pullers for left and right side
Benefits
Consistency in each loin
Better yields
Back ribs are squarer on both left and right side
New Belly
Automatic Belly Trimmer
Features
Capability to input customer’s Specs.
Water jet trimmed on multiple sides
Better space for additional hand trimming
Automatic scaling
Benefits
Better yields for slicing
Reduces chances of human error
Consistency with each belly
Larger and more consistent belly
Straighter cuts
New Back Rib
We are so excited to share the details of our new cut floor with you all! This cut floor is going to be an absolute marvel. Our need for a new and updated cut floor came from all of the business growth and support from our partners, so we thank y'all for the opportunity.
Not only is this 45,000 sq. ft. facility going to be the home of our new, state-of-the-art cut floor, but also features many necessary upgrades for expansion. It will also include a box building mezzanine, a new combo cooler, and three loading docks. We broke ground on this expansion Fall 2017. We are set to finish construction this summer and begin install equipment Fall of this year.
Our biggest excitement for our cut floor is our capability to separate lefts from rights. This is going to do wonders for our precision and yields. Oddly enough, by separating the two sides, we will be be moving slower while increasing our output. We will also have the ability to double our capacity without needing to double our employment. We look forward to bettering our cuts for you all.
co2 Facility
co2 Facility
We began construction on our CO2 Facility last fall. Due to the Illinois winter we've had this year, the project has been on and off. In order to construct this, we had to dig down nearly 40 ft. With the snow coming and going, we had to plan around this. By installing this new CO2 Stunner, we will now be able to meet capacity that is assigned to our facility by the USDA. We are increasing our hogs/hr. by over 37%. We will still keep our old CO2 Stunner. This is will now be our backup.
Barn exapansion to follow- Summer 2018
Animal Bi-Product Conversion facility
Animal Bi-Product Conversion facility
One of the things that we pride ourselves on here at Rantoul Foods is the utilization of the entire hog. We have always done this, but finally have the opportunity to continue to do so at our own facility. With the steady growth in customers and orders over the past seven years, we have finally had the opportunity to justify constructing our own bi-product converstion facility.
Our construction began early Spring 2017. We were fortunate enough to get our hands on some additional land right behind our operations. We found that this was the perfect spot to expand and construct our newest expansion. This Conversion Facility will be able to receive all of the bi-product directly from Rantoul Foods. We will also be hauling all of Trim-Rite's bi-product to our new facility.
This facility will be ran by only two people and controlled entirely by an iPad. This is surely the most state-of-the-art Rendering Facility, to date. We will be working with 300,000 lbs. in an 11 hour period. From this 300,000 lbs., we will be able to make 75,000 lbs. of Bone Meal and 11,000 gals. of Choice White Grease. We will also be turning the steam into recycled water for our farmers to wash out their trucks after dropping the hogs off.
Final view
