Mount Franklin Foods, a manufacturer of branded, contract and private label confectionary, nuts, snacks, and foodservice products, is expanding its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility designed to ensure continued success in meeting and exceeding production demand for the company’s core products. Mount Franklin Foods has broken ground on a 280,000-sq.-ft. expansion to its candy manufacturing facility in San Jeronimo—a port of entry in the Mexican state of Chihuahua—across the U.S. border from Santa Teresa, New Mexico and close to the company’s headquarters in El Paso, Texas. The addition to the existing facility will more than double both square footage and capacity when it opens in January of 2024, and will bring more than 400 new jobs to the area.

“We are pleased to announce the expansion of our San Jeronimo facility, increasing our capacity by 140 million pounds annually, which will double our current output capability,” says Enrique Grajeda, president and chief executive officer of Mount Franklin Foods. “The new facility is being built to house additional mogul production for soft candy items, such as gummies and jellies, and will enable us to meet increasing customer demand as well as continue to innovate with the development of exciting new products.”

The San Jeronimo facility, which opened in 2020, marked a major investment in technology and manufacturing by Mount Franklin in its core confectionery business. Now, less than two years later, the company is more than doubling both plant size and capacity to meet escalating customer demand.

“Expanding manufacturing capabilities allows us to stay on the leading edge of technology so we can be an even more robust resource for our customers,” Grajeda adds. “This expansion gives us both the ability to better serve our customers today and the room to support our future growth initiatives.”