Greenleaf Foods To Invest $310M For New Manufacturing Facility In Indiana

Greenleaf Foods, a plant-based food company, plans to expand and invest $310M to construct a manufacturing facility in Shelby County, Indiana.

A subsidiary of Canada-based Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Greenleaf Foods will construct and equip a 230,000-square-foot facility on 57 acres at Interstate-74 and State Road 44.

The planned facility, which is expected to be North America's largest plant-based protein facility, will create up to 460 new jobs and is slated to become operational in late 2020.

"Our new facility will be a center of plant-based protein excellence that helps accelerate our company's growth," said Dan Curtin, President of Greenleaf Foods. "This will support our rich pipeline of innovative products that both satisfy increasing consumer demand and drive our continued leadership of this dynamic category in the U.S. and Canada into the future. Our world-class research and development teams are shattering what were once thought to be the culinary boundaries of plant-based protein products, and our new facility will take those ideas from development to commercialization."

The facility will more than double the company's production capacity to meet the surging consumer demand for its portfolio of brands, including Lightlife Foods and Field Roast Grain Meat Co, the no. 1 and no. 2 brands in the refrigerated alternative protein category, according to The Indiana Economic Development Corporation. The expansion is expected to meet future market growth and will extend Greenleaf Foods, SPC's network of production facilities, including operations in Seattle and Turners Falls, Massachusetts.

According to The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Greenleaf Foods, SPC up to $5M in conditional tax credits and up to $1M in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The IEDC also offered up to $1.25M to the community from the Industrial Development Grant Fund to support infrastructure improvements at the new site. The city of Shelbyville and Shelby County approved additional incentives. Duke Energy has also approved additional incentives to offset a portion of the energy costs.

“In Indiana, we’re proud to support a global economy with more than 950 foreign-owned businesses here providing quality career opportunities for our residents. And we’re thrilled to welcome Greenleaf Foods SPC to that growing list and to our Indiana family,” Governor Eric J. Holcomb said.

"I am thrilled that Shelby County was chosen for this project," said Shelbyville Mayor Tom DeBaun. "It's further validation that the administrations of the city of Shelbyville and Shelby County are working collaboratively to make this a great place to do business. This project diversifies our employment options locally and regionally as well as bringing tremendous opportunities to our community."