New Charles City Chicken Plant Owners Push Towards Mid-Summer Opening

Takeover of the former Simply Essentials chicken processing plant in Charles City by a new ownership group has been, well, a process.

The purchase of the facility by Pure Prairie Farms became official on December 16, 2021, after a drawn out legal battle. Now, PPF must get a plant that’s been shutdown since August of 2019 up and running again.

CEO Brian Roelefs says the acquisition and reboot of the plant have come with their own hurdles.

PPF held a town hall meeting last week at the Youth Enrichment Center on the Floyd County Fairgrounds to introduce the company formally to the community.

Roelofs told the audience of about 30 people that they are targeting late June or shortly after to get operations running again with about 50 employees for one shift to start. He added that eventually they’ll ramp up to two shifts with a staff of about 250 employees, which could happen by the end of the year.