Neenah, Wisconsin-based Galloway Company has expanded its concentrated fluid food products manufacturing operations. The $5 million expansion will allow Galloway to meet growing demand for dairy bases used in new-age beverages. While $3.5 million has been allocated toward the building, $1.5 million will be spent on processing equipment. The expansion will add approximately 15 employees to the company’s current 60 in the next five years. Construction on the 12,000-square-foot facility began last November.

The Georgia Institute of Technology has begun work on a new Food Processing Technology Research Facility. The $9.4 million facility will provide a world-class center for collaborative food processing technology development, academic research and public interaction. Phase one is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2004. It will include 35,000 square-feet for a laboratory and office space for research and development in the areas of automation technology, information technology and environmental systems. Phase two will be scheduled for a later date. It will cover 10,000 square feet of laboratory space and offices for bioprocessing research, food safety and human factors.

Del Monte Foods plans to invest $25 million to reconfigure its newly acquired Midwest soup operations to reduce cost, improve efficiency and support growth. Targeted to be complete by fall 2003, the investment is designed to enable the Mendota, IL facility to provide soup production capabilities that are similar to the Del Monte plant in Pittsburgh, PA. The expansion will also allow the Mendota seasonal vegetable facility to expand into a major source of supply for private label soup products and add 100 new jobs.

The farmer-owned cooperative of Minnesota Soybean Processors of Brewster, MN, has begun construction on a new soybean crushing and processing plant.