Hostess Brands Inc. of Lenexa, Kansas, announced that it’s investing between $120 million and $140 million to transform a facility in Arkadelphia into its “bakery of the future.”
The publicly traded company (Nasdaq: TWNK) said at an investor’s event Feb. 28 that construction and design at the 330,000-SF facility is ongoing. It’s expected to be operational in the second half of 2023.
The project is expected to create about 150 jobs over three years.
Hostess paid $11.5 million for the building, according to a 10-K form the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The transaction closed on Feb. 22.
“We’ve been profitably gaining market share across the snacking categories in which we compete,” Andy Callahan, Hostess president & CEO, said in a news release. “The addition of this new bakery signals our confidence that we expect the growth we have demonstrated over the last several years to continue.”
Dan O’Leary, the company’s chief growth officer, said at the event that the expansion will boost capacity by 20% for cake and miniature doughnut products. Additional production lines will support the company’s growth plan through 2028 and help the company meet goals for innovation.
O’Leary said Hostess is taking a “sustainability-first design approach” with the plant and is committed to making it the greenest facility it owns.
“Unburdened by pre-existing constraints, this facility will leverage all of the best practices accumulated across our bakery network to become our most efficient and flexible operation,” he said.
Hostess brands include Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Donettes and Voortman cookies.
The company qualified for the following state incentives: the Tax Back program, which provides sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery, and five years of the Create Rebate program, an annual cash rebate based on the number of jobs added by a company.
“This is a huge win for Arkadelphia, Clark County and the entire state,” Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston said.
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