Grillo's Pickles has confirmed plans to open a $54 million food manufacturing operation to meet its growing national demand in Indiana.

The company recently broke ground on a 155,000-sq.-ft. production facility along I-65 in Bartholomew County, Ind. The facility will be adjacent to a previously announced $175 million King’s Hawaiian bakery operation. Both companies are subsidiaries of Irresistible Foods Group (IFG).

“When we purchased the Bartholomew County site, we did so with thoughts about building it out in phases,” says Joe Leonardo, vice president of strategic operations for Irresistible Foods Group and chief operating officer for King’s Hawaiian. “Today’s announcement for Grillo’s Pickles confirms our strategy.

“Our pickles use a century-old family recipe and contain no artificial preservatives,” adds Adam Kaufman, president and CEO of Boston-based Grillo’s Pickles. “Grillo’s Pickles are packed, shipped and sold refrigerated. For our new production site, it was important to us to find a central U.S. location with a skilled workforce and supportive business environment, and we are very excited to be in Bartholomew County, Ind.”

Local government leaders expressed support for IFG’s two projects. In November 2023, Bartholomew County officials pledged up to $3,746,000 from a combination of County Rainy Day Fund and County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) funds to pay for off-site water, sewer and road improvement upgrades to serve the project site and surrounding area. Last June, county officials unanimously approved the company’s request for an additional 10-year property tax phase-in on the Grillo’s Pickles building and equipment, producing savings of approximately $1.2 million.

In addition to local incentives, based on the company’s investment and job creation plans, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation committed an investment in Grillo’s Pickles of up to $1.4 million in the form of incentive-based tax credits. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning that the company is eligible to claim the incentives once Hoosiers are hired.