Hormel Ingredient Solutions announced the opening of its expanded Burke Corporation’s 210,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant in Nevada, Iowa. The facility makes meat crumbles, meatballs and diced meats. The project, first announced in FE in November 2018, was valued at $150 million at that time. The facility includes new X-ray, vision and metal detection systems on all incoming raw materials. 

Ferrero North America announced plans to build a new chocolate manufacturing center in Bloomington, Illinois. It will be Ferrero’s first chocolate production plant in North America. The new facility will be an expansion of Ferrero’s Bloomington facility and will allow the company to produce chocolate for Crunch, 100Grand, SnoCaps, Raisinets, Goobers, Ferrero Rocher and other Ferrero products made in North America. The $75M expansion will add 70,000 square feet to Ferrero’s current facility, and is projected to start construction by spring 2021.