JBS-Backed Egg Producer Matinqueira Expands in the U.S.

By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, June 5 (Reuters) – After selling a 50% stake to meatpacker JBS JBSS3.SA in April, Brazilian egg producer Mantiqueira Brasil is starting greenfield projects in the U.S., the company’s president said on Thursday during an industry event in Sao Paulo.

Leandro Pinto said his son is in the U.S. overseeing the projects in Colorado.

Outbreaks of avian flu, known as bird flu, which caused the death of millions of birds in the U.S. and Europe, gave Brazilian eggs suppliers the chance to increase market share in global markets.

Brazilian companies can both produce eggs locally and export, as well as set up production facilities in other continents, Pinto said.

“We have plans to go to the world,” Pinto said as he mentioned Mantiqueira’s first greenfield projects in Colorado, where JBS already operated large meat plants.

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Oliver Griffin and Marguerita Choy)