New Facility Will Give G&S Foods Room for Growth
If there is one word that best describes the need for G&S Foods to construct a new manufacturing facility, that word would be capacity.
As previously reported by Store Brands, the Abbottstown, Pa.-based snack foods supplier in March broke ground on its new 348,344-square foot plant in nearby Hanover in the south central portion of The Keystone State. Target date for its grand opening is mid-2024.
When operational, the new manufacturing facility will enhance the company’s flexibility with various components of its business operation ranging from storage of key ingredients to increased ability to work with retailers on private brand programs.
To outline how the new facility will position G&S for the future, Dan Morgan, president and CEO of G&S Foods, spoke with Store Brands about the factors that led the company to make this major investment.
STORE BRANDS: What were some of the key factors that led to the decision to build a new manufacturing facility?
DAN MORGAN: It was really about capacity and efficiency. We have tripled the size of the business over the past five years and quite frankly we are just running out of space. Our current facility (in Abbottstown) has served us well but we’ve just outgrown it. We need more space and amenities for our employees and also need to have the ability to handle what will be coming at us in the future from our retail customers.
SB: Specifically for your retail customers, how will the new facility help G&S meet their needs?
DM: First is capacity. With everything going on the marketplace, such as raw ingredient costs, we need the space to make sure we have the proper amount of inventory. Making sure we are well stocked with sunflower oil, for example, which is a major ingredient for us. The conflict in Ukraine has caused supply problems as between 65% and 70% of sunflower oil comes from this region of the world. I have been in this business for 35 years and have never seen the fluctuations in availability of ingredients like we have now. The additional capacity we will have will allow us to better deal with availability and take advantage of better pricing with ingredients.
SB: How will the new production facility impact G&S’s ability to grow its private label business?
DM: Right now, we probably can’t do much more private label in our current facility. We can do a little bit, but only in certain segments. Once we’re in the new plant, we are going to have the ability to expand our private label business and work with large national companies that are looking to expand their assortments.
SB: How will the new facility help the company with growth as you look five to 10 years down the road?
DM: In addition to the extra capacity that I have discussed earlier, I think we’ll be able to get into new capabilities that we can’t do at our current location. For example, there is a technology called twin screw that would allow us to make products from heavier grains that are more dense and harder to explode to be able to cook. You need a twin screw converter to start the process with these different grains in order to produce the healthier products more consumers want. This is a big capability for us to offer and it’s a big investment, which includes a lot of training for our employees. We will be bringing this technology to the east coast.
SB: Will there be other notable technological additions to the new facility either now or at some point in the future?
DM: We will be making investments coming at different stages. For example, we see a day when auto-packers will be involved, but that’s not something we’ll have out of the gate. We do see a future when technology on the packing side will make things more efficient. It is also important to note that while the new building will be about 350,000 square feet, we also have additional 150,000-200,000 square feet approved in our plans. There is nothing additional on the drawing board now, but we do have the option to expand further in the future as needed.