RANDERS, Denmark – Danish Crown broke ground on a new beef slaughterhouse in Holsted that will represent the company's largest capital investment in the cattle segment, according to the company.

An estimated 500 workers will begin construction on the facility, which will sit on an 114,000-sq.-m. plot. The facility will cost DKK700 million ($120 million) to build. Kjeld Johannesen said the plant would ensure the competitiveness of Danish Crown and the Danish cattle industry in the global market.

"Exactly 10 years ago, I broke the ground for the new pig slaughterhouse in Horsens, which back then represented an investment of DKK 2 billion ($342.8 million)," Johannesen said. "Today, we are taking another historical step in Danish Crown, cutting the first sod for a new cattle slaughterhouse."

Peder Philipp, chairman of the Beef Producer Committee and a member of Danish Crown’s board of directors, said the facility was significant to the Danish cattle industry.

"By investing in this new cattle slaughterhouse, Danish Crown and its owners are assuming responsibility for the future," he said.

In the two years following the plant's completion, the facility is expected to strengthen the competitiveness for the owners and for Danish Crown’s exports.