Hodie Meats, a state-of-the-art further processing facility, has officially opened in the heart of Northeast Georgia’s poultry industry to serve a national customer base.

The new operation is led by an experienced team of familiar names in the poultry industry, most of whom are from the region – including Ben Garcia, vice president of processing, and Amy Ward, vice president of sales. 

“Our leadership team has come together to service a huge demand in the U.S. supply chain from food service companies, retailers, and processors for quality custom-cut chicken portions,” Garcia said. “As big believers in American ingenuity, we are especially proud to have created a 100% U.S.-owned manufacturing operation.”

Hodie is an all-fresh-meat, USDA-grade facility, receiving processed chicken from area integrators for portion cutting and co-packing customized to each customer’s specifications. The plant features a full range of further-processing capabilities from hand-portioning of fillets, tenders, strips, diced meat, and nuggets to deboning of dark and white meat.

“From X-ray systems to metal detection, our facility has installed nothing less than the industry’s most advanced processing equipment technology,” Ward said. “This will give us the opportunity to have the best quality on the market.”

Located in Alto, Georiga, the new facility represents a multi-million-dollar investment in the renovation and repurposing of the former Mount Vernon Textile Mill. With plenty of room for expansion, Hodie’s further-processing operations currently occupy less than a quarter of the 200,0000-square-foot building. 

The company has plans to focus on local hiring, many of whom will likely be former Mount Vernon Mill workers.

“The letters in our company name stand for ‘Humility, Ownership, Discipline, Integrity, and Excellence,’ representing values that we intend to exhibit throughout our customer relationships, community involvement, and support of the state’s poultry industry,” Garcia said. “We will continue the strong legacy of Georgia’s poultry industry through our investment in the lives of our employees and the families throughout our region.”