Ferrero North America, part of the global confectionery company the Ferrero Group, broke ground on a new 70,000-square-foot chocolate processing facility in Bloomington, Illinois. It will be the Ferrero Group's third facility that processes chocolate, and its first outside of Europe. The new plant is set to open in spring 2023.

Ghafari Associates provided architectural and engineering design services for the bid documents associated with the project. Additionally, Ghafari will provide technical support and on-site construction supervision. The Austin Company is Ferrero's design-build partner responsible for the engineering and construction of the project. 

The new facility is an expansion of Ferrero's existing Bloomington manufacturing center and will produce chocolate for CRUNCH, 100 Grand, Raisinets, and other Ferrero products for the North American market. The $75M project will add 70,000 square feet to Ferrero's current Beich Road footprint and add as many as 50 new jobs. Annually, Ferrero currently spends nearly $300 million in Illinois, supporting over 1,300 employees and 560 suppliers.

Ferrero has made North America a focus for investment in recent years, including the expansion of its North American headquarters in New Jersey, new distribution centers in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia, and significant development of facilities in Franklin Park, Illinois as well as Bloomington. The company's footprint in the market now totals eight offices and ten plants and warehouses in North America, including a cocoa processing plant in Brantford, Ontario.

About Ferrero

For over 70 years, Ferrero has created products loved by generations. We've grown from a bakery in Alba, Italy into the third largest confectionery company in the world. Ferrero entered the North American market in 1969 and continues to spread joy with Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac and Fannie May chocolates. Ferrero Group expanded its portfolio in 2018 with the addition of Butterfinger, CRUNCH, Baby Ruth, 100Grand and other legendary chocolate brands.

We are a family-owned company with 3,000 employees in eight offices and ten plants and warehouses in North America, including a cocoa processing plant in Brantford, Ontario and a planned chocolate processing factory in Bloomington, Illinois. Instilled in every aspect of our business is the entrepreneurial spirit of our founders, and their passion for quality, creativity, and innovation. 

About Ghafari Associates

An innovator since 1982, Ghafari embraces an integrated design approach to deliver solutions that connect building operations, systems, and people. This approach is made possible by the firm's full complement of capabilities, including architecture, interior design, civil + structural engineering, MEP, ICT + security, and operations + systems engineering. Winner of Engineering News-Record Midwest's "Design Firm of the Year" award in 2017, Ghafari supports the food, aviation, corporate / commercial, education, government and institutional, healthcare, and industrial / manufacturing sectors through 14 offices across the globe. 

About The Austin Company

The Austin Company is a design-builder that takes facilities from site selection, design, and engineering to construction and maintenance. Founded in 1878, Austin provides clients with decades of industry know-how coupled with innovative solutions designed to solve the toughest challenges. Austin has served as the trusted partner to hundreds of industrial manufacturing companies – a trust earned by designing and building safe, quality, budget-conscious facilities. They deliver "Results, not Excuses". Austin's experience includes production and packaging plants, automated distribution, bulk storage warehouses, research laboratories, and operations centers.