Dive Brief:
- Dry pasta maker Barilla plans to invest $170 million to expand its facility in Livingston County, New York.
- The project, which will be completed in two phases, will add production and packaging lines and warehouse capacity. The company expects to complete the first phase of the project, which will create 90 jobs, by March.
- Barilla, headquartered in Italy, operates in more than 100 countries and maintains 30 production sites in 10 countries. Some of the company’s products sold in the U.S. are made at the Livingston County site and a facility in Iowa.
Dive Insight:
Consumers may be cutting back on spending, but food manufacturers such as Barilla are spending millions of dollars to ready their businesses for future demand.
Barilla’s investment in New York will not only provide it with the flexibility to increase production but also strengthen its supply chain and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, the company said. The pasta maker first invested $75 million in the Livingston County facility that opened in 2007.
“Rooted in our Italian heritage, we continue to innovate and evolve to meet the needs of our U.S. customers,” Melissa Tendick, president of Barilla Americas, said in a statement. “This expansion supports our ability to meet growing demand while remaining focused on what matters most — delivering high-quality pasta that consumers know and trust.”
Several food and beverage companies have announced plans to expand existing facilities or build new plants during the last year, including Chobani, Babybel maker Bel Group and Danone.
