FORTY EIGHT NEW jobs are to be created at a poultry processing plant in Cavan.

A spokesperson for the Carlton Bros processing plant in Shercock said the new jobs will all be in place early in the new year and are the result of a €3.3 million investment in specialised equipment to remove hearts, livers and gizzards from chickens.

The majority of this offal will be exported to Asia where chicken offal is popular and used in many dishes. Most of these chicken parts had been going to waste because the demand for offal in Ireland is low.

The company said that the poultry industry in Ireland has been under intense pressure in recent times with the rising cost of wheat and cereals used to feed chickens.

“As a company we are always looking at ways to maximise the return for the product we produce,” said Vincent Carton, MD of Carton Bros. “We have to be innovative and constantly researching marketing to find new avenues of income. We already export 50 tonnes of chicken feet to the Asian market each month”.

Read: Ninety jobs lost as chicken plant closes in Cavan >

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