FPL Food LLC

FPL Food LLC operates a cattle harvest and beef processing plant at 1301 New Savannah Road in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia. The establishment carries FSIS establishment number M332, with meat slaughter and meat processing listed as its inspected activities and cattle listed as the species slaughtered under inspection. FSIS classifies the plant as large and places it in slaughter volume category 4.0, well above the smallest category of under 1,000 head per year. The grant of inspection date on file is May 12, 2017. No custom-exempt activity is reported to FSIS.

According to the company website, FPL Food was started in 2004 by Francois Leger, who purchased a harvesting and grinding facility in Augusta and named the business after his initials. The company describes itself as a family-owned producer of fresh beef with headquarters in Augusta, a further processing facility in Thomasville, Georgia, and farming operations at Chatel Farms in Reidsville plus additional farms in Georgia and one in Texas. The website states the company has more than 1,600 team members across three facilities in Georgia and that its farms hold more than 8,000 Angus and Akaushi Wagyu purebred, seed stock, and feeder cattle.

The website describes the plant as supplying retail, foodservice, and food manufacturing partners nationally and internationally, rather than serving individual customers. It states that facilities are certified according to national Beef Quality Assurance guidelines and that FPL was the first U.S. beef processor to install the Arrowsight remote video auditing system for verifying humane handling. Search results from trade and business press reference an announced investment and modernization project at the Augusta plant along with roughly 180 job cuts. Details beyond the federal record and the company website, including any customer-facing sales, are not on file here.

The federal record reports no custom-exempt activity at this establishment, so it is not listed as a custom slaughter or cut and wrap option for individual livestock owners. The company website does not describe booking, kill fees, minimums, or cut and wrap arrangements for outside animals. It does state that FPL initiated a calf buyback program in the Southeast in 2020 to scale production and support local family farms, and that cattle rest in pens overnight after arriving at the processing facility. Farmers interested in supply relationships would need to contact the company directly at (706) 722-2694; terms are not stated in the sources on file.

FPL Food LLC operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.

No retail counter, halves or quarters, bundles, online ordering, delivery, or shipping is described in the sources. The website presents FPL Food as a supplier to retail, foodservice, and food manufacturing partners, meaning its beef would generally reach households through those partners rather than directly from the plant.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.