FALL RIVER – Blount Fine Foods Corp. has acquired a prepared-food manufacturing plant in Portland, Ore., that it expects to eventually employ 150 workers, the company announced on Thursday.
The factory will give the company an additional 80,000 square feet of manufacturing space to manufacture soups and side dishes. The company also expects that the location of the plant will give it access to West Coast ingredients and increase the company’s presence in that area. Details of the transaction were not immediately available.
“Adding this facility meaningfully rounds out our nationwide network of plants and distribution points and allows us to get the best ingredients to the ideal plant, and then ship the highest-quality product on to the customer in the most efficient manner possible,” said Todd Blount, Blount CEO and president.
The company expects to invest $25 million into the plant, which was the former headquarters of Harry’s Fresh Foods. The company expects the facility to open in the second half of 2020, initially employing 50 workers. By 2021, the company expects the plant to be fully operational and employing 150 workers.
“We are adding redundancy, flexibility, diversity, breadth, and depth, all of which benefit our customers around the country, while also strengthening our leadership position in the industry,” Blount said of the purchase.
The company also noted that it had entered into an agreement with a third-party logistics firm to provide expanded distribution and logistics across the country.
