Hearthside Foods Acquires Seelyville Production Facility

Hearthside Food Solutions announced the purchase of a baking facility in Seelyville, Indiana, previously owned by Kellogg Company.

UPDATE: 

“The Seelyville facility has operated as a bakery and will continue to be a bakery for Hearthside,” the representative of the company told World Bakers. The leading Hearthside baked categories include bars, cookies, cracker and other baked snacks. The specific products and projects have not been announced yet, nor has definitive plans for commencement of operations. The facility provides future growth capabilities and options.

According to the company, the facility has been continually updated and is quite modern. As with all other Hearthside facilities, it will operate on Hearthside’s continuous improvement system, called HPS. From an IT perspective, it will run on SAP, as do all other Hearthside locations. These two platforms (operations and IT), create a single, integrated production network with common operating processes, best practices, and information tools. Any specific equipment decisions will be based upon production requirements, the company told us.

The recently idled bakery facility will allow for future expansion of Hearthside’s network. The facility most recently operated as a bakery for Kellogg, producing cookies, crackers, and other baked products. The 187,000sqf baking facility has been continually expanded and upgraded, including a significant expansion in 2001. Located near Terre Haute Indiana, Seelyville will be the company’s second bakery in the state of Indiana.

The company disclosed it was working with the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation regarding a local property tax abatement application to the Seelyville Town Council and that final project scope, approval and timing would be contingent upon the application being approved in the near future by the Town Council.

“The Seelyville acquisition is about future growth. The facility will enable our nutrition bar and bakery business to continue to serve our customers’ expanding needs. We are looking forward to being part of the greater Terre Haute business community,” said Rich Scalise, Hearthside chairman, and CEO.

The addition of Seelyville expands the Hearthside network to 26 facilities. The company also recently announced plans to acquire Greencore USA. That transaction is expected to close in November 2018 and will bring the total facility count to 39 production locations, 35 of which are in the US.

“The Seelyville facility is in excellent condition and has been well cared for,” said SVP of supply chain Dwayne Hughes. “We look forward to the Seelyville facility becoming part of our expanding world-class production network.”