On Thursday, October 3, 2024, PSPA was on the road again with 30+ members visiting Clemens Food Group in Hatfield, PA. Clemens is among the five largest pork producers in the country and does business under the Hatfield, Farm Promise, Prima Porta, and Kunzler brands. Ham, bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and other pork products are among the food outputs from a high-intensity manufacturing process.

After breaking into two groups, PSPA visitors broke into two groups for a tour. We had the opportunity to observe the entire production process from animal preparation, sanitation, and cutting where butchering and meat cutting skills dominated the workforce to assembling, curing, and packaging where packing skills were prevalent. Clemens’ supply chain is vertically-organized using a network of company and private suppliers for pigs that are consistent in size and weight.

At the end of the tour, one of our guides, Emily Brzozowski, broke down a half of pig into its component parts, connection what we were seeing in front of us with the manufacturing process that we saw during the tour. Most of use came away from this demo and tour with a new understanding of how pork, ham, bacon, sausage, and hot dogs make it to our dinner tables.

Thanks to Emily and Ann Brown for serving as our tour guides and to Branden Shepher for helping us set up the field trip.