US-based Bama Foods plans to expand its production facility in Owasso, north Tulsa after it secured a contract supply hotcakes to McDonald’s.
The expansion will result in adding 55 jobs at the location.
Bama CEO Paula Marshall said that the expansion is the company's first in the US since the 1990s and comes after it won a six-month long bidding process to supply hotcakes for th restaurant chain.
Marshall said the expanded plant should be ready to commence operations in nine to 10 months.
The expansion is estimated to cost $33m for the company.
Marshall said: "Bama's new hotcakes line, combined with the success of all-day breakfast at McDonald's, will be a winning combination for both companies. We're thrilled to continue growing with McDonald's and to bolster our partnership with this new product line.
"We have to buy some new equipment, about $30 million of equipment. And the expansion costs some money, but we're really happy about the new jobs."
Bama Foods produces bakery items such as hand-held pies, biscuits, buns, pie shells, pizza and crusts, to restaurant chains.
The company will produce hotcakes along with biscuits for other quick-serve restaurant chains at its Owasso facility.
Products manufactured by Bama at its other facilities in the the Tulsa metro area include pies and pizzas, reported tulsaworld.com.
The company's biscuit making method involves transfer of dough, made from flour that comes down from silos, to oversized conveyor belts toward biscuit cutters, with workers testing for temperature, consistency and color in the process.
Image: Bama Foods to produce hotcakes for McDonald's. Photo: Courtesy of Mister GC/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
