Anyone traveling through Delphi could have the misfortune of ending up behind one of the many hog trucks heading south of town. Following that truck will lead one to the largest hog plant in all of Indiana, Indiana Packers Corporation (IPC).
Most people know this plant as just a local and maybe statewide pork producer, but IPC has ties outside of our national borders. The major owner of the plant is Mitsubishi Foods Incorporated, based in Japan. This might sound vaguely familiar as it is owned by the same Mitsubishi car company. Another minor stockholder is Itoham Food Incorporated.
The history of this plant starts around 20 years ago when a small Carroll county farm was transformed. The area was perfect for the plant and what its goals were to be. The plant was originally formed between the Central Soya and Mitsubishi Corporation, but when Central Soya left, Itoham Food Incorporated stepped in to fill the place.
IPC employs almost 2,000 people and is the largest employer in Carroll county. They also compete with Tippecanoe companies like Caterpillar in employment numbers.
IPC brings in around 17,000 pigs every day, around 70% of these pigs come from Indiana farmers. At least 30% of all products ship overseas to Japan.
In an effort to become more eco-friendly IPC recycles nearly all of its waste materials. And to better serve their employees the plant is currently constructing a health clinic. This will help alleviate the high costs of health insurance for many of it’s workers.
Not only are they trying to help out their workforce, but IPC spends thousands of dollars for local events. Sporting events such as the Bacon Bowl and the Indiana Kitchen Classic are both sponsored by Indiana Packers, along with teams from both Delphi and Flora. Many of the meats available at local events are also donated from IPC.
Along with being an international food processing company, IPC is also the core to the financial infrastructure of Carroll county. Without IPC in the area the fairly new Hoosier Heartland wouldn’t have come through our area.
So whether it’s enjoying one of their many products or attending one of their sponsored events, we can all be thankful to have such a hard working and well-renowned organization right here in our own backyard.
