U.S. Food & Beverage Industry Looks to Billions' Worth of Q1 Capital Kickoffs

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database shows robust investment for capital projects in the U.S. Food & Beverage Industry that are set to kick off construction in the first quarter. Nearly all of the approximately 1,000 projects, worth $18.6 billion, are attributed to capital efforts--specifically grassroot and in-plant projects.

The project activity includes more than 560 in-plant projects and more than 160 grassroot projects, with both categories accounting for roughly $8 billon worth of investment.

More than half of the total investment is attributed to two sectors: packaged and prepared foods and warehousing and distribution, with the rest spread out across a variety of sectors:

• Packaged and Prepared Foods: $4.1 billion
• Warehousing and Distribution Centers: $3.7 billion
• Meat and Poultry: $2.8 billion
• Ag Products: $2.4 billion
• Beverages: $2.4 billion
• Fish and Seafood: $1.5 billion
• Dairy: $1.28 billion

In terms of in-plant capital expenditures, JM Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) (Orrville, Ohio) is developing the $300 million third phase of its plant in McCalla, Alabama that produces its Uncrustables line of frozen sandwiches. The Phase III project entails adding a 350,000+-square-foot building to an already-operational 900,000-square-foot plant that opened in November. The final phase would bring the company's total investment in the plant, which is the largest single-line bakery in the country, to roughly $1 billion. Subscribers to the GMI Food & Beverage Project Database can click here to read a detailed project report.

Privately-held, vertically-integrated poultry company Koch Foods Incorporated (Park Ridge, Illinois) in March plans to begin expanding its processing and distribution facility in Morton, Mississippi by adding 300,000 square feet of cold storage. Construction is expected to take one year to complete. Click here to read the project report.

Among the grassroot projects is one attributed to RealCold (New York, New York), which operates and provides cold storage and transportation services for grocers and the food service industry. Site preparation is underway for a 380,000-square-foot cold storage warehousing facility in East Hanover, New Jersey, situated on 62 acres just 30 minutes from the Port of Newark. RealCold expects construction will wrap up in late 2025, with operations beginning in early 2026. Alston Construction is providing general contracting services. Click here to read more project information.

Another project set to kick off in the first quarter is Pure Salmon's (Abu Dhabi) $300 million grassroot salmon aquaculture facility in Cedar Bluff, Virginia. The approximately 750,000-square-foot site is expected to produce between 10,000 and 20,000 tons per year of salmon by using recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) technology, which provides a constant and controlled environment for the fish. Construction is expected to wrap up in mid-2025. Subscribers can read more information in a project report.

The Great Lakes leads all U.S. market regions with total investments worth $4.6 billion. Amway Corporation (Ada, Michigan), one of the top vitamin retailers in the U.S., plans to begin renovating its manufacturing plant in Ada. The project entails transforming 48,000 square feet of unused space into a state-of-the-art center to manufacture its nutrition products. Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of the year; see project report.

Meanwhile, Marquis Incorporated (Hennepin, Illinois) plans to begin building a $250 million grassroot soybean-crushing plant in Hennepin, designed to produce 1.5 million tons per year of soybean meal used to produce livestock feed. Click here to read more information.

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

At an August webinar, Randy Godet, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Food & Beverage Industry, discussed the trends and drivers affecting project activity across the globe. For more information, see August 29, 2024, article - Webinar: Resilient Food & Beverage Industry Sees Some Slowdown in Otherwise Strong Sector.

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).