Nestle spending $60 million to expand Jonesboro plant

Arkansas Business, March 10, 2008 by Mark Friedman

Nestle Prepared Foods Co. of Solon, Ohio, said last week that it will spend more than $60 million to expand its frozen-foods manufacturing plant at Jonesboro.

The expansion is expected to bring 200 jobs to the plant, which now has nearly 600 workers, according to a Nestle news release.

A new production line will be added and a new bakery will be built to allow pizza production for the Stouffer's and Lean Cuisine frozen prepared meals, the news release said. Production is expected to start in 2009. About 50,000 SF of manufacturing space will be added to the plant, which opened in 2003.

"The announcement of our decision to expand the facility in Arkansas reflects our commitment to investing in manufacturing capacity to help us meet demand for our successful Stouffer's and Lean Cuisine brands," Dale Morsefield, vice president of supply chain and operations for Nestle Prepared Foods, said in the release.

Nation Pizza Products of Schaumberg, Il1., will operate the new bakery, which will be connected to the Jonesboro plant and designed for future expansion.

The expansion "reflects well on the current Jonesboro workforce which has shown they are committed to making high quality products at competitive operating costs," said Andy Darley, Nestle factory manager at Jonesboro, in the news release.

In the past six months, Nestle added 200 jobs to the plant because of the success of the Stouffer's and Lean Cuisine brands, which are sales leaders in the frozen meals category, the news release said.

In 2001, Nestle said it was spending $165 million to build the plant at Jonesboro, making it one of the largest single start-ups by a company in state history.

In March 2006, Nestle spent $19.7 million to expand the Jonesboro plant.