Plant Openings & Expansions



Kraft Foodshas begun construction of a new $23 million, 860,000 square-foot distribution facility in Aurora, IL. While the warehouse will be mainly used for dry storage, 50,000 square feet will be used as a humidity-controlled area for some Kraft products. Also included in the project are shipping and receiving areas and a new 16,000-square foot office. The project should be in completed in the first quarter of 2003.

Wells' Dairy Incorporated is building a $40 million ice cream plant in Saint George, UT. The 158,000 square-foot plant will include a cold storage and distribution center. Blue Bunny round and square half-gallon packaged ice cream will be produced at this facility along with a line dedicated to the production of 5-quart containers. The plant's location, 100 miles northeast of Las Vegas, will allow Wells to reach West Coast markets.

Morningstar Foods, Inc. is constructing a 60,000 square-foot cooler, a 23,000 square-foot palletizing dry storage and forklift charging area, a 2,700 square-foot office space, and upgrades to the refrigeration system at its Fraser, NY plant. The project should be completed by March 1, 2003.

Mississippi Beef Processors, a privately held start-up company in Franklin, TN, announced groundbreaking of its $32 million slaughtering and beef processing plant in Oakland, MS.

Schubert Packaging Systems opened a 12,000 square foot facility in Addison, TX, near Dallas. This new facility is the company's North American headquarters and includes a showroom for robotic pick-and-place, cartoning and case packing machinery.