Simmons Pet Food has broken ground on a facility expansion at its flexible packaging plant in Emporia, located in the US state of Kansas.
The $38m expansion project will increase the space at the facility to around 200,000ft², and create around 100 new jobs in the region.
The expanded facility is expected to be operational in 2019. At present, Pet Food employs around 500 people at its Emporia facility.
The expansion will allow Simmons to increase capacity for flexible production and packaging for select wet pet food products.
It will help to meet the growing demand from the customer for cup, tub, and pouch packaging formats.
Emporia expanded facility will have the capacity to manufacture an estimated 12.4 million cases of wet pet food cups and 2.4 million cases of tubs when it becomes fully operational in 2022.
Simmons Pet Food Emporia operations vice president Jason Beyer said: “The expansion of our operations in Emporia represents a story about the strength of good people doing great work, strong performance and dependable partnerships.
“Emporia is the place we call home and we are proud to be part of helping this community grow through job creation.”
East Central Kansas regional development association president Kent Heermann said: “This expansion will create even more skilled, well-paying jobs for the qualified workforce in the region.”
Simmons Pet Food provides supplies custom and private label pet food solutions to the customers in the US and Canada.
The firm offers brands and retailers with products in different formats, including cans, pouches and cups.
