Kerry Breaks Ground on Coatings Plant

Kerry Ingredients (Beloit, WI) has broken ground for a new 126,000-sqft coatings manufacturing facility in Calhoun, GA. The new plant will manufacture breadings, batters and marinades for coating poultry, seafood, vegetables and other processed foods. It will become the company's fifth coatings plant joining facilities in Melrose Park, IL, Millstadt, IL, Evansville, IN and Ponchatoula, LA.

Kerry originally entered the U.S. coatings business in January 1995 with the acquisition of Golden Dipt. The company then made a significant revitalization investment in sales and R&D personnel as well as to the flexibility, efficiency, quality and output of the four plants it obtained as part of the acquisition.

Over the next five years, Kerry's coatings business grew significantly and the company decided it needed to build a new facility after conducting a capacity study. The company selected the Calhoun site because of its proximity to many of its customers, access to transportation and the available workforce in the area. The community is located on Interstate 75 in the northwest corner of Georgia about halfway between Atlanta and Chattanooga.

The project will be completed in two phases, with the first phase scheduled for completion by the end of 2000. Operations will commence in the first quarter of 2001.

Edited by Scott Hegenbart