CB Group is pumping $1 billion into the construction of two new high-tech, climate-smart facilities that will significantly boost the country’s egg and pig production.

These are a modern 40,000-bird tunnel-ventilated layer farm to be operational by September 2026, and a 640-sow commercial breeding farm projected to produce approximately 15,000 piglets annually.

The projects will anchor the company’s ‘The Time Is Now’ campaign, which is designed to transform the local table egg and pork industries through modernisation and collaboration with contract growers.

The initiative is in direct response to the disruption caused to the agricultural sector during the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

Speaking at the press briefing on Wednesday (April 22) at Jamaica Food and Drink Kitchen in St. Andrew, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, welcomed the investment by CB Group.

He said it aligns with the new FACE of food initiative, which prioritises food security, ensures that agricultural transformation is led by agribusiness, places climate resilience at the forefront of the country’s agricultural framework, and focuses on export expansion.

“We support initiatives of this nature, and I want to thank the CB Group for stepping forward at this time, for expanding and modernising our agricultural sector, for accelerating the growth in egg production and pork production, for advancing climate smart infrastructure, for fostering new agri-entrepreneurs and for driving investment and rural development,” Minister Green added.

The layer farm will comprise two first-of-its-kind 50,000 square-foot buildings designed to withstand a Category Four hurricane. It will utilise a colony nesting system, which allows for automatic collection of eggs, while avoiding the use of cages.

Meanwhile, the sow breeding farm will have an electronic feeding mechanism to manage and regulate the diet and nutrition received daily by each pig.

The facility, which will be aligned with the highest European standards, will expand the pork market by approximately 50 per cent starting March 2027.

CB Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mattew Lyn, noted that the tunnel-ventilated, climate-smart systems are similar to those that reshaped broiler production after Hurricane Gilbert wiped out the local poultry industry in 1988.

To ensure sustainability, a network of pork and egg contract growers will be developed who will provide 100 per cent tunnel-ventilated modern housing.

“The 40,000-layer farm is going to be a pilot. The 640-sow farm is what is going to feed these pig contract growers, and over the next few years, we’ll be looking to establish relationships with 10 to 15 contract growers to put up approximately 20 buildings,” Mr. Lyn pointed out.

He said that the project represents an additional $2.5-billion investment in the economy.

He noted that the layer and sow farms will set off a chain reaction of future investments and initiatives, including a central packing house, where eggs are to be collected from the farmers, sorted, washed and packaged for distribution; a liquid egg plant; and a new processing plant for pigs that will triple the nation’s current capacity.

“Our ultimate goal is to double the size of both the table egg and the pork industries over the next 10 years, and we firmly believe we have the right blueprint to do it,” Mr. Lyn said.

‍

Source: CB Group Invests $1billion In Rebuilding Egg, Pork Industries – Jamaica Information Service