ConAgra planning year-round operations

Jeff Kraimer, plant manager at Waseca’s ConAgra plant, spoke to the Waseca City Council Tuesday evening about expanding the business’s operation. At the time, council members were investigating the possibility of creating a public/private partnership necessary to facilitate the use of the city’s wastewater treatment plant by the business. Council members instructed city staff to work with ConAgra to draft an official proposal for the arrangement.

ConAgra employs about 120 people year-round, along with up to an additional 200 seasonal workers. Kraimer explained that the plant would like to move toward increasing production from seasonal to year-round. In order to do so, the company would need to expand its access to wastewater treatment. 

Kraimer claimed that ConAgra isn’t processing the amount of food it would like to. The new plant opened in June of 2022 and processed about 140-145 million pounds of food last year. 

They expect those numbers to be up to about 185 million when they reach 100% efficiency. Kramer stated that the plant cost about $300 million to build, and that volume has remained flat. “We have to change the denominator. To get to 250-300 [million] pounds we have to unlock year round.”

This would mean more employees, better margins for ConAgra, and better prices for consumers. 

“What we want to do is take that 185 million theoretical max and move to a year-round operation in the 250-300 million pound range,” Kraimer explained. “Basically the plant is sitting idle from October through spring. Why?”

In order to move to year-round operations, Kraimer said ConAgra wants to become an “Industrial user” of Waseca’s wastewater treatment facilities.

“We’re trying to figure out a relationship that’s mutually beneficial for both ConAgra and the city,” Kraimer expressed. 

“The city doesn’t want to be left holding the bag financially,” interim city manager Carl Sonnenburg said. “To start out, we don’t want any investment in consulting fees.” 

“We want to pay our share and do the right thing,” Kraimer responded. 

Sonnenburg explained that it was very early in the process and many questions will be asked and answered. When asked about a timeline, Kraimer said this process would take months and expressed there was no urgency, just a process they would like to see addressed. 

Despite council members’ numerous questions, the council was unanimous in its support, approving the first step in this process. What the council approved Tuesday night was for city staff to work with ConAgra to get an official proposal together for council members to consider. 

“This sounds very exciting for the city of Waseca,” councilperson Jeremy Conrath summarized.