U.S. Baked Goods Projects Worth Billions

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--U.S. bakeries manufacture a variety of products, from the basic sliced bread used for sandwiches to high-end pastries served in restaurants. Industrial Info is tracking more than $2.6 billion worth of active projects set for U.S. baked goods plants. The Great Lakes region, which accounts for more than $800 million of this spending, leads the nation in terms of overall project value.

One of the leading projects in the Great Lakes region is set to kick off soon in Bartholomew County, Indiana. Irresistible Foods Group (Gardena, California) plans to build a bakery for its famous King's Hawaiian sweet rolls. King's Hawaiian has operations in Hawaii, Southern California and Georgia, and the Indiana bakery will be its first in the region. The company is set to break ground on the project later this year and expects the facility to begin operations in late 2026 or early 2027. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Food & Beverage Project Database can click here for more details on the project.

Another company with bakeries on the west and east coasts is establishing a facility in Indiana. Everyone enjoys the large and elegant selection of desserts served at Cheesecake Factory (Calabasas, California) restaurants, but not all of these items are prepared on site. With bakeries in California and North Carolina, Cheesecake Factory is setting up a third bakery in Charlestown, Indiana. Not only does the company produce products for its own restaurants, but other foodservice wholesalers, retailers and distributors. The project is planned to break ground later this year, putting it on track for completion in late 2025. Subscribers can click here for more information.

Hundreds of years of culinary tradition suggest that beer and chewy, baked pretzels go hand-in-hand, and one pretzel manufacturer is set to expand its operations in what is perhaps the U.S.' most famous beer-related city, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee Pretzel Company (Milwaukee) this year plans to begin more than doubling the size of its present 22,000-square-foot facility to 50,000 square feet. The project will add more production space, warehousing, freezer storage and loading docks, with the largest allocation of space going toward new production. Milwaukee Pretzel currently produces more than 40,000 pretzels per day, including products to food service outlets and its own fresh and frozen lines. The project is expected to be completed in early 2025. Subscribers can click here to learn more.

Outside of the Great Lakes region, one of the nation's largest bakery projects kicked off last summer from the iconic Pepperidge Farm Incorporated (Norwalk, Connecticut), maker of cookies, breads and crackers, including the famous Goldfish snack cracker. Goldfish, in fact, feature in the company's expansion of its plant in Richmond, Utah. Last summer, the company began adding more than 100,000 square feet to the plant, including more than 73,000 square feet of new production space and 23,000 of warehouse space, as well as additional cold storage and office facilities. The project includes building a new line for Goldfish production. The company said the new line will increase the bakery's output of Goldfish by 50%, allowing it to produce more than 5 million Goldfish per hour--or 1,500 Goldfish every second. The project is expected to be completed toward the end of this year. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.

At least two projects involve manufacturers of one the U.S.' favorite less-than-healthy treats: the honeybun. Carolina Foods Incorporated (Charlotte, North Carolina), the manufacturer of the Duchess line of honeybuns, cinnamon rolls, donuts and other pastries, is closing down shop in Charlotte after more than 80 years and relocating to nearby Pineville, North Carolina, where it will soon wrap up construction on a new 423,000-square-foot facility with increased warehouse, office and manufacturing space.

Another baked confectionary maker, McKee Foods Corporation (Collegedale, Tennessee), which manufactures Drake honeybuns and cakes as well as the Little Debbie line of baked confectionaries, after completing a 300,000-square-foot building expansion will add a new production line to its Collegedale facility this year. The project is part of a 15-year expansion plan announced by McKee in 2020, The new line is expected to begin operating later this year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project reports on the Carolina Foods and McKee projects.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Food & Beverage Project Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).