Our Story
Quality Pork Processors, Inc. is a privately held fresh meat processing company located in Austin, Minnesota which was founded by Richard Knight on June 19th, 1989. Nate Jansen is our current CEO.
We currently employ over 1,300 people and are very proud to be well diversified both in race and gender. We offer full-time employment on two production shifts with a weekly guarantee.
We celebrated our 30th Anniversary in 2019 and in our thirty year history we have had no layoffs. Over 150 people, with over 500 years of combined experience in the fresh pork business, have chosen management careers with us.
QPP has one of the best safety records in the industry, and we put the safety of our people as priority #1.
What We Offer
- FREE-Onsite Clinic: Employee access to our
free on-site clinic, clinic is available to dependents after 90 days.
- Insurance: Medical, Dental,
Optical, Life Insurance, Supplemental Life Insurance
- Time Off: Nine paid holidays,
effective immediately upon hire. Receive 2 weeks paid vacation after 12
months.
- Short-term and long-term
disability insurance after one year of service if injured or sick outside
the plant.
- 401K plan (after one year) of
service with a company contribution.
- Credit union loans and
savings available through payroll deductions.
- Onsite Hot food cafeterias
- Advancement opportunities, many of our management team started in production
Our Community
Austin is located in Southern Minnesota near the Iowa border. Austin has a population of over 23,000. It is 1 1/2 hours south of Minneapolis/St. Paul and 40 miles west of Rochester, Minnesota. The community of Austin has a lot to offer-- a 2-year college and technical school, a large YMCA, nice shopping malls, large city pool with water slide, new middle school with Olympic sized swimming pool, four elementary schools and a completely renovated high school with two gymnasiums. Austin has three large grocery stores, a community theater, nice downtown area, many different denominational churches (including a Catholic high school and elementary schools), and a new library.
Austin Assurance Program offers FREE Riverland College tuition to Austin High School and Pacelli Catholic High School graduates!
Austin is very affordable, a great place to live and grow!!
Founder and Former CEO
Richard Knight was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1956 with a Bachelor's of Science in Agricultural Economics. He was employed by Swift & Company, a meat packing corporation, for 31 years.
In 1987 he started his own custom meat operation, Quality Pork Processors (QPP), in Austin Minnesota which he retired from in 2000. Knight and his wife Kathrine, married for 55 years, bought a farm in Sauk County in 1979 and have five children and ten grandchildren. Knight was the Chairman of the Plan Commission for Excelsior Township since its formation in 2006. Knight passed away on August 2nd, 2016.