Taste and nutrition giant Kerry has opened a 316,000-square-foot, upgraded food manufacturing facility in Georgia, US, constructed to the tune of €125 million (US$138 million). The investment represents the largest capital expenditure in the company’s history. 

The facility provides integrated taste and nutrition solutions to meet consumer demands and food safety standards for poultry, seafood and alternative protein products in the US and Canada.

“The facility now has the capacity to produce over 500 million lbs (227 million kg) of coating systems annually – enough coatings to produce close to 2 billion lbs (900 million kg) of finished poultry or alternative protein solutions. The expansion added 30% more capacity across Kerry’s network,” Charlie McAllister, VP and GM, food service brands, Kerry, North America tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

The Georgia facility has the capacity to produce enough coating for approximately 70 billion chicken nuggets annually.

Food production across key geographies
Investments such as this allows Kerry to continuously work and co-create products with its customers and respond to product evolution.

“We upgraded two coatings lines, added two new lines for breader blends and two breadcrumb lines – one for Japanese panko style breadcrumbs, the other for cracker meal production,” McAllister explains.

In addition to the four existing silos for bulk materials receipt, the new design adds 12 new silos, each capable of holding 110,000 to 220,000 lbs (50,000 to 100,000kg). 

McAllister adds: “We upgraded to state-of-the-art food safety technology, using multiple checkpoints featuring magnet, metal detection, video and x-ray technology.” 

Kerry anticipates its meat alternatives volume will experience rapid growth over the next five years. 

“Its a top growth platform and our meat alternatives solutions span coatings, seasonings, taste, proteins, food protection and more. (The facility) will be a key enabler for us to capitalize on the increased demand for plant-based coated products like chicken alternatives,” says McAllister.

The facility provides taste solutions and food safety standards for poultry, seafood and alternative protein products.

In January, Kerry opened a 21,500-square-foot facility at its Jeddah operation in Saudi Arabia to produce sustainable food ingredients in snacking, meat and bakery, to be distributed across the Middle East. The company invested over €80 million (US$90.3 million) in the region over the four years. This facility is Kerry’s largest in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region. 

As part of Kerry’s sustainability strategy, Beyond the Horizon, the company has prioritized sustainability initiatives across production including the use of renewable electricity, zero waste to landfill (ZWTLF), bulk receiving of materials, local sourcing wher possible and the extensive use of energy efficient equipment.

The facility will achieve ZWTLF this year through central recycling and a facility bailing system to optimize waste streams and maximize recycling.

The plant’s energy efficient design is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 34%. Roughly 50% of all raw materials are sourced within 241 kilometers of the facility and 95% are sourced within the US.

Added bulk storage at the site will reduce freight to the site by 25%.