Special to the DBJ

Approval of a $9.75 million USDA Rural Development loan puts Indianola, Mississippi-based Delta Pride Catfish, Inc., on a fast track for plant modernization at its Indianola processing facility.
One of the world’s largest fresh fish processors, Delta Pride plans capital projects to improve the plant’s work environment, enhance product quality and lower overall processing costs.
“This financing is the key to moving Delta Pride to the next level of operations,” says Bill Allen, president and chief executive officer. “It would not have been possible without the strong support of our state USDA Rural Development office and our congressional delegation, especially Senator Cochran and his staff.”
Renovation and expansion of the Indianola facility will begin immediately and could be completed by February, with construction phases designed to allow continuous plant operations.
“This project is an example of what we are about at USDA Rural Development-job retention as well as business expansion,” says Nick Walters, USDA Rural Development state director for Mississippi. “We have every confidence in the management team at Delta Pride and are proud to be a part of what they are doing and the impact they have on the Mississippi Delta.” The loan includes additional working capital, ensuring that Delta Pride will have adequate resources for increasing live fish purchases and inventory levels to meet customer needs.
Renovations are expected to further increase processing capacity for what is already the largest catfish processing plant in the world. Modernization of the entire process, from live fish entering the plant to packaged products loaded onto delivery trucks, will incorporate state-of-the-art mechanical de-heading and filleting machines, ergonomically-improved trim tables, new spiral freezer technology, and new chilling and grading systems throughout the plant. The facility will be the most technologically advanced catfish processing plant in the country and the first to totally separate the slaughter process from secondary and further processing functions.
“With the upgrades, we will be able to process catfish faster and more efficiently while maintaining cooler temperatures throughout processing, resulting in an even further improvement to our excellent product quality, along with an enhanced shelf life for ice-packed and individually quick frozen (IQF) products,” says Allen.
“These changes mean our U.S. and international accounts can be more confident than ever that the Delta Pride product they present to their customers is the highest quality available of all U.S. farm-raised catfish.” As the largest employer in Sunflower County, Delta Pride provides nearly 600 direct and more than 1,600 indirect jobs, for a total economic impact on the region of $170 million annually. A processing cooperative owned by catfish farmers, Delta Pride has long been recognized in the catfish industry for quality and customer service. The company delivers to U.S. and international customers a wide variety of natural, breaded and marinated catfish products, both ice-packed and IQF. The company has recently introduced a line of bakeable, breaded products. DBJ