Gossner Foods to add packaging capacity in Utah

By Kate Sander, Chief Editor, Cheese Market News

Gossner Foods (Logan, UT) plans to expand its plant to add 60,000-sqft of space for additional packaging capacity.

The company has received preliminary approval for up to $300,000 in grant money from the state for the project, says Greg Rowley, vice president and COO, Gossner Foods. The company hopes to have the expansion completed by Oct. 1, adds Dolores Gossner Wheeler, president and CEO.

The expansion will be devoted to cheese packaging. While the company initially will relocate just its current six packaging lines to the space, new equipment is expected to be added quickly. Ultimately, the company expects to operate 12-14 packaging lines. The new space also will include additional cold storage and a new shipping facility. As equipment is added, the company expects to add about 150 new positions as well.

Wheeler says the decision to expand the company's packaging capabilities was made because customers continue to grow larger. Expanding the plant will help keep the company competitive, she believes.

Before the company finalized its decision to expand in Utah, it also considered adding on to its new Imperial Valley Cheese of California plant in El Centro, CA, which operates as a partnership between Gossner and KF Dairy, which provides milk for the plant. However, Wheeler says it makes sense to build the addition in Utah because "this is home." Muenster is packaged at the California facility but Swiss cheese produced in California is shipped back to Utah where it is cured and packaged.

Wheeler adds that the company also is considering expanding its California plant, but that expansion would be for additional manufacturing capacity. A time line for that expansion was not disclosed. CMN

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• Six farm groups join NMPF to oppose dried UF milk in cheese
• High diesel prices prove troubling for food transport
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