Plant Openings & Expansions | May 2022

Hostess Brands plans to invest between $120 million and $140 million to transform an idled 330,000-sq.-ft. facility in Arkadelphia, Ark., into a next-generation bakery. The new bakery will increase the company’s capacity across its bakeries on its Donettes and cake platforms by approximately 20%. It will also enable the company to accommodate production growth in the future. *Photo courtesy of Hostess Brands*

Kerry, a global taste and nutrition company, has opened its upgraded coatings and breadcrumbs facility in Rome, Ga. A total of $136 million has been invested to create one of the more state-of-the-art food manufacturing facilities in the United States, which represents Kerry’s largest-ever capital expenditure investment and one of the biggest in Georgia’s history. *Photo courtesy of Kerry*

Nestlé USA announced a $675 million investment to build a new beverage facility in Glendale, Ariz. Nestlé’s investment strengthens its market position and enhances its manufacturing capabilities to meet increased consumer demand for its products. *Photo courtesy of Nestlé*

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, N.M. and close to the company’s headquarters in El Paso, Texas. *Photo courtesy of Mount Franklin Foods*

**PepsiCo Beverages North America** is expanding its Tucker, Ga., soft drink facility with a $260 million investment, increasing the plant’s size by 260,000 sq.-ft., which is expected to increase production capacity by five times by 2025. *Photo courtesy of PepsiCo Beverages NA*

Cargill will invest more than $48 million to upgrade its corn production equipment at its Fort Dodge, Iowa, location.

Cold-Link Logistics plans to construct a blast freezing and cooling distribution center in Sioux City, Iowa. The 185,000-sq.-ft. facility represents a capital investment of almost $58 million.

Maple Leaf Foods expects that the construction of its value-added poultry plant in London, Ontario, to be complete by the end of this year. The company expects to shift some of the volume in its Schomberg and Bradford, Ontario, plants to the new facility.

Koch Foods formally opened its new $60 million poultry feed mill and distribution center in Attalla, Ala.

Kroger will build a spoke distribution center in Oklahoma City. The 50,000-sq.-ft. facility will collaborate with the hub in Dallas. Kroger also has plans for spoke facilities in Austin (70,000 sq.-ft.) and San Antonio, Texas (67,000 sq.-ft.) and Birmingham, Ala. (50,000 sq.-ft.). Kroger will also build a 270,000-sq.-ft. customer fulfillment center/automated warehouse in Cleveland.

Mars Petcare announced an investment of $100 million, which will be applied over the next three years, for the expansion of its wet food production plant, located in El Marqués, Querétaro, Mexico. The new facilities will have an area of 7,000 square meters (75,347 sq.-ft.) and will be completed by third quarter 2023.

MGP Ingredients Inc., a provider of specialty proteins and starches, will build a $16.7 million technologically advanced extrusion plant to produce its ProTerra line of texturized proteins. The new facility will be located adjacent to the company’s existing Atchison, Kan., plant. Once online in late 2023, the new extrusion plant is expected to produce up to 10 million pounds of ProTerra per year.

Cheney Brothers, a broadline food distributor, announced plans to construct a new distribution center in Florence, S.C. The company’s $66 million investment will create 280 new jobs. The project will consist of a modern 400,000-sq.-ft. refrigerator/freezer distribution facility, over 45 loading docks, a Cheney Express and culinary kitchen.

Diageo opened a new 225,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Plainfield, Ill. The $110 million facility consists of two high-speed canning lines to handle the company’s RTD portfolio.

Milo’s Tea Company is investing $20 million to expand its Tulsa, Okla., facility, which is expected to create 50 new jobs. The investment will add 3,100 sq.-ft. of production space to its existing 105,000-sq.-ft. building.

FGP Holding plans an expansion of its frozen treat novelties production space in Mobile, Ala., from 30,000 to 130,000 sq.-ft., which represents a $20 million investment.

Busseto Foods is planning to build a new 477,000-sq.-ft. dried meat processing and distribution facility in Fresno, Calif. The facility will process incoming frozen meats and employ approximately 160.

Chick-fil-A is opening its fourth distribution center, located in Antioch, Tenn. The $16.3 million facility is expected to create 45 new jobs and be finished by the end of 2022.

Soli Organic plans to build a new soil based, controlled environment indoor farm in Marysville, Wash. The 130,000-sq.-ft. facility will produce 5 million pounds of herbs and leafy greens per year.

Cold Solutions at Rush Creek is near completion of a new 1-million-sq.-ft. cold storage warehouse/distribution center that will provide additional storage capacity for the Kansas City market, beginning in 2022. The multi-temperature facility will have the ability to accommodate multiple food storage, manufacturing and distribution customers with approximately 70,000 pallet positions.

Living Greens plans to invest $70 million to create a 200,000-sq.-ft. indoor farming facility in Muncie, Ind. The building is expected to be operational in 2023 and create 120 jobs.

Aspen & Autumn LLC plans construction of an 82,000-sq.-ft. food and drink distribution warehouse in Albuquerque, N.M.