Transforming Walmart’s Meat Supply Chain
Designing a Future-Ready, Case-Ready Beef Processing Facility
Walmart’s first fully owned and operated case-ready beef facility demonstrates how early integration and design-led collaboration can deliver high-performance food processing environments—built for efficiency, resiliency, and long-term scalability.
Client: Walmart
Design-Build Partner: McCownGordon
Location: Olathe, Kansas
Facility Size: 330,000 SF Case-Ready Beef Processing Facility
“There have been only a handful of times in my career when I could honestly say, I’d do this again with all the same people. This was one of them.”
— Don Olsen, VP Design Operations, ESI Design Services
How Design-Led Collaboration Delivered A Future-Ready, High-Performance, Case-Ready Beef Facility
Walmart’s first fully owned and operated case-ready beef processing facility represents a major advancement in how the retailer manages its meat supply chain. Delivered through a collaborative design-build partnership with McCownGordon, the project demonstrates how early integration, operational insight, and disciplined design decision-making can deliver high-performance food processing facilities built for long-term reliability and growth.
Why Walmart Built Its First Fully Owned and Operated Case-Ready Beef Facility
Greater Supply Chain Control
By owning and operating the beef cutting and packaging process, Walmart reduced reliance on third-party processors whose capacity and pricing can fluctuate. Direct control over this step in the supply chain improves predictability, resiliency, and operational continuity—critical factors in large-scale protein processing.
Evolving Customer Expectations
The facility supports Walmart’s commitment to transparent, traceable food systems, beginning with locally sourced beef and extending through packaging and distribution. Fully owning the processing step allows Walmart to deliver consistent quality, clear product origins, and a reliable supply to its customers.
Improving Value and Increasing Capacity
Case-ready beef products are packaged on-site and shipped directly to Walmart distribution centers across the Midwest, reducing handling, transportation, and intermediary markups. These efficiencies help control costs while increasing throughput—keeping shelves stocked with the products customers expect.
Design-Build Team Relationship
Why ESI Was Engaged
Delivering a highly automated meat processing facility at this scale required deep expertise in food processing design, building systems integration, and operational resiliency. McCownGordon selected ESI for our ability to translate complex operational requirements into a build-ready, high-performance facility design.
From early planning through detailed engineering, ESI aligned architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and utility systems to support Walmart’s current production needs while enabling future scalability, automation, and long-term reliability.
ESI Design’s Scope of Services
ESI provided full architectural and engineering design services, including structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and comprehensive utility coordination. Our team ensured seamless integration between building systems and specialized meat processing equipment, while designing infrastructure capable of supporting future processing lines and expansion.
Key Principles That Shaped Project Success
The success of Walmart’s case-ready beef processing facility reinforced several principles that continue to shape ESI’s approach to complex food processing and protein production projects.
Early Operational Stakeholder Engagement
Engaging operators, maintenance teams, and end users early in the design process provided critical insight into workflows, sanitation, equipment access, and maintenance requirements. This early alignment strengthened design decisions and improved long-term operational performance.
Focused Design Deep Dives
Discipline-specific and feature-focused design sessions went beyond traditional milestone reviews. These targeted deep dives resolved coordination challenges, clarified performance requirements, and reduced downstream revisions—supporting smoother construction and startup.
Budget Transparency During Design Development
Maintaining open communication around budget targets, allowances, and contingencies enabled informed, timely decision-making. This transparency aligned scope, performance, and cost expectations while preserving project momentum.
Early Authority and Permitting Coordination
Proactive engagement with local authorities, utilities, and regulatory agencies during early design phases established clear expectations and constraints. Early coordination streamlined approvals and reduced risk as the project advanced.
Strategic Phasing of Design Deliverables
Thoughtful sequencing of design packages supported early decisions, enabled parallel efforts, and provided flexibility as operational requirements evolved—without compromising coordination or quality.
Collaborative Team Culture
A shared commitment to integrity, accountability, and collective problem-solving fostered a collaborative design environment. Strong team alignment proved essential to navigating complexity and delivering a successful outcome.
Key Design Challenge Resolved: MAP Tri-Gas System Integration
The Challenge
The facility relies on a Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Tri-Gas System, with gas storage and vaporizers typically located outdoors to ensure proper ventilation and safe gas dispersion. City requirements to conceal this equipment introduced concerns related to airflow, system performance, and gas safety.
ESI Design’s Solution
Working closely with equipment suppliers and local authorities, ESI designed a custom enclosure that met aesthetic requirements without compromising safety or performance. The solution provides adequate airflow, mitigates gas-release risks, and complies with all applicable codes and regulations.
The Outcome
The final design integrates seamlessly with the facility while ensuring safe, code-compliant operation of the MAP Tri-Gas System—supporting uninterrupted production and long-term reliability.
Design-Led Integration Drives Schedule and Cost Advantages
Throughout the design and engineering process, the team evaluated building systems using a total cost of ownership approach, considering first cost, energy efficiency, maintenance, and lifecycle performance. Multiple refrigeration strategies were analyzed using detailed comparison matrices, giving Walmart clear, data-driven insight. A central ammonia refrigeration system was selected for its efficiency, scalability, and long-term reliability.
Early engagement within McCownGordon’s design-build team enabled alignment between design, constructability, and operations from day one. This integrated approach reduced risk, improved coordination, and validated key decisions before impacting cost or schedule.
Future-Ready Food Processing Facility Design
The facility was designed to support future processing lines, increased capacity, and higher levels of automation. Building systems and utilities were sized to accommodate future loads, allowing Walmart to adapt to evolving production demands without major disruptions or costly retrofits—ensuring long-term operational resilience.
ESI DESIGN SERVICES AWARD TEAM
Left to Right: Johnathan Reinke-Mechanical Designer, Levi Hoskins- Electrical Designer, Dan Rousseau-Senior Project Engineer, Caleb Brown-BIM Manager, Don Olsen-VP Design Operations, James Beeson-Mechanical Engineer, and Amy Koch-Senior Mechanical Engineer.
Not Pictured: Robin Wolff-Director of Engineering.