Brazilian meat giant JBS is set to boost domestic egg output after making its entry into the sector last year.

Mantiqueira Brasil, in which JBS holds a 50% stake, will invest approximately 565m reais ($110.7m) in a “new expansion cycle” in the country, according to a statement.

The capital expenditure is designed to increase annual production capacity by 50%, lifting output from around four billion eggs to six billion eggs by 2028.

The statement added the programme will combine “organic expansion, asset modernisation and new technologies” across five states to increase egg production.

Mantiqueira founder Leandro Pinto said: “This new investment cycle strengthens our platform in Brazil by combining animal-welfare practices and production efficiency so we can continue growing consistently in the coming years, while advancing in our ambition to be among the largest companies in the sector in the world.”

One of the largest individual projects will fund a new facility in São Sebastião do Rio Verde in southern Minas Gerais state.

Scheduled for completion in the first half of 2028, the plant will house three million birds across rearing, laying, grading, and "industrial utilities" areas. The project will create around 120 direct and 100 indirect jobs.

In São Paulo, the egg producer will expand its Lorena cage-free facility. The site is adding four two-storey laying houses and two rearing houses, raising static capacity to 1.5 million birds in its first phase. A planned second phase targets expanding capacity to three million birds by 2028.

Mantiqueira will also modernise a sorting area and expand an integration model in Céu Azul, Paraná. The initiative will add capacity equivalent to 1.3 million birds in partnership with around 120 rural producers by the end of this year.

Further spending includes expanding conventional capacity in Pouso Alto and building new laying and rearing houses alongside a feed mill in São João do Itaperiú.

The company has also completed operational efficiency upgrades in Formosa, located in the state of Goiás.

Mantiqueira said it is also making “parallel” investments in management and digitalisation.

The group, which houses brands such as Ovos Mantiqueira, Happy Eggs, and Fazenda da Toca, has introduced AI tools for point-of-sale inventory tracking.

It has also established the Mantiqueira Service Center (CSM) to centralise operational routines and digitise back-office tasks.

“As we gain production robustness, our management needs to keep pace. Artificial intelligence ensures surgical decision-making in sales, while the CSM streamlines processes, cuts redundancies and speeds up our governance,” Pinto said.

In Brazil, Mantiqueira operates 18 production units across six states. The group also has a presence in the US, operating four facilities in Arizona and one in Colorado.