Mantiqueira Targets 6 Billion Brazilian Eggs a Year, Adds Paraná Capacity
BRAZIL · AGRIBUSINESS
Key Facts
- —What happened On 24 September 2026 Mantiqueira gave new figures for its R$60 million (about US$11.6 million) Céu Azul project.
- —The Paraná goal Capacity there rises from 1.8 million to 3.1 million hens, with about 120 small integrated farmers.
- —The big plan About R$565 million (about US$109 million) nationwide to reach 6 billion eggs a year by 2028.
- —Who owns it Meatpacker JBS holds 50% of the voting capital alongside the founding Pinto family.
- —The catch The plan and its state amounts were public on 1–3 September; this week added job and flock figures.
- —Jobs The Paraná project should create 80 jobs, and the Minas Gerais projects 330 by 2028.
Mantiqueira is spreading a nationwide expansion across five states, with new details this week for Paraná and Minas Gerais.
Mantiqueira, South America’s largest egg producer, is putting R$60 million (about US$11.6 million) into western Paraná. The Céu Azul project, part of a nationwide expansion in Brazil, lifts capacity there by over 70%.
The flock at the site will grow from 1.8 million to 3.1 million hens.
New figures for the Paraná project came on 24 September. A day earlier, the company set out jobs and flock numbers for R$205 million (about US$39.6 million) of work in Minas Gerais.
What Mantiqueira Is Building in Paraná
In Céu Azul, the money pays for a modernised egg-grading area with new equipment and a larger network of integrated small farmers. The expansion adds capacity equal to 1.3 million hens.
About 120 integrated producers should benefit directly by the end of 2026, the company said. The project is expected to create 80 jobs, 50 of them direct.
Under the integration model, family farmers keep laying hens on their own properties, while the company runs the grading unit. About 90 farmers already take part in the region, Bem Paraná reported.
Mantiqueira also runs a unit in Francisco Beltrão, in south-western Paraná. The company says the Paraná work also advances higher-value categories and efficiency, two goals of the national plan.
The Nationwide Plan
Across Brazil, Mantiqueira plans to invest about R$565 million (about US$109 million) by 2028. It wants to raise annual output by 50%, from about 4 billion to 6 billion eggs.
The flock would grow by more than 7 million birds, from 17.9 million to 24.9 million, Diário do Comércio reported. The plan covers Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Goiás.
It combines new farms, modernised sites and technology including automation, artificial intelligence and digital processes, Portal do Agronegócio reported.
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Minas Gerais and São Paulo
In southern Minas Gerais, R$190 million (about US$36.7 million) will build a unit for 3 million hens. It is in São Sebastião do Rio Verde and is due in 2028, with about 120 direct and 100 indirect jobs.
The site will have 12 laying houses, six rearing houses and a sorting area, Diário do Comércio reported. With it, Mantiqueira will have eight units and support sites in the state.
Its existing Minas farms are in Itanhandu, Passa Quatro, Pouso Alto and Itamonte. It also processes liquid eggs in Uberlândia, runs logistics in Contagem and makes fertiliser in Campanha.
A further R$15 million (about US$2.9 million) expands the site in Pouso Alto by 700,000 birds, including quails, by June 2027.
In São Paulo, the company is enlarging its farm in Lorena, which it calls Latin America’s largest cage-free operation. The first stage lifts capacity to 1.5 million hens, and a second could reach 3 million by 2028.
Lorena has received four two-storey laying houses using German multilevel systems for cage-free hens. Its automated line can process up to 200,000 eggs an hour.
Lorena gets about R$200 million (about US$38.6 million), the largest single amount in the plan, Globo Rural reported. The 3-million-hen target there is for 2028, the company says.
Globo Rural reported R$50 million (about US$9.7 million) each for the Santa Catarina and Goiás units. The Santa Catarina money includes a new feed mill.
Who Is Behind Mantiqueira
Mantiqueira was founded in Minas Gerais by Leandro Pinto more than three decades ago. JBS, the meatpacker controlled by the Batista family, holds 50% of its voting capital.
The company operates 18 units in six Brazilian states and five in the United States. Its US arm, Mantiqueira USA, completed the purchase of Arizona’s Hickman’s Egg Ranch in November 2025.
The group aims to rank among the world’s four largest egg producers. By July it had about 6 million birds in the United States, a hard-currency market, O Diário do Paraná reported.
Pinto said the company is being built “for the long term”. He wants more scale, more higher-value products and greater efficiency, and a place among the sector’s largest companies worldwide.
The new cycle combines animal-welfare practices with productive efficiency, he said, so the company can keep growing steadily in the coming years.
Why It Matters
Speciality eggs, such as cage-free and organic, made up 32% of Mantiqueira’s Brazilian sales by July, up from 2% five years earlier.
For JBS, which entered the egg sector through its Mantiqueira stake in 2025, the plan grows a business it co-controls. In Paraná, about 120 small integrated farmers will host part of the new capacity, the company said.
Its brands include Happy Eggs for cage-free eggs, Fazenda da Toca for organic eggs and N.OVO protein drinks made from egg white. It also makes an organic fertiliser, Solobom.
The company exports to South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South Korea, according to its own profile.
What Comes Next
The Paraná integration expansion is due by the end of 2026, and the Pouso Alto work by June 2027. The new Minas Gerais unit and the second Lorena stage run to 2028.
Watch for progress at São Sebastião do Rio Verde, the only brand-new unit in the plan.
The other growth front is the United States. There, Hickman’s lost about 95% of its flock to avian flu in 2025 and has been rebuilding since.
Sources: Bem Paraná, the Céu Azul investment, 24 September 2026; O Tempo, the nationwide plan, 23 September 2026; Diário do Comércio, Minas Gerais projects, 23 September 2026; Globo Rural, JBS stake and state amounts, 1 September 2026; Portal do Agronegócio, technology in the plan, 8 September 2026; JBS press release, the national plan, 3 September 2026; O Diário do Paraná, speciality eggs share, 15 July 2026. Exchange rate: Brazilian central bank PTAX rate of 24 September 2026, R$5.18 per US dollar.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Mantiqueira investing in Paraná?
About R$60 million (about US$11.6 million) in Céu Azul, western Paraná. Capacity there will rise from 1.8 million to 3.1 million hens.
What is Mantiqueira’s national investment plan?
About R$565 million (about US$109 million) by 2028 across five states. The goal is to lift annual output from about 4 billion to 6 billion eggs.
Who owns Mantiqueira?
It was founded by Leandro Pinto, and JBS holds 50% of the voting capital. The group also operates five units in the United States.
How many jobs will the projects create?
The Paraná project should create 80 jobs, 50 of them direct. The Minas Gerais projects are expected to add 150 direct and 180 indirect jobs by 2028.
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