EYE ON OPERATIONS
Yakult U.S.A. Inc., Torrance, Calif., said it selected the City of Fountain Valley, Calif., as the location of its first U.S. factory. With operations set to start in 2012, the facility will produce 250,000 bottles per day of the company's probiotic drink Yakult (a fermented refrigerated dairy drink) and serve the current sales territories – mainly California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico – where it is available through most major retailers. The new factory will poise the company for expansion into new regions, officials said.
Yakult said the will sit on 387,000 square feet of land and have a maximum production capacity of 760,000 bottles per day. The company will continue to import the beverage from Guadalajara, Mexico, the closest plant to U.S. borders, until the factory opens. Yakult is a subsidiary of Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Rastelli Foods Group, Swedesboro, N.J., is planning a $22 million expansion to nearly triple the size of its meat processing operation, according to a story byThePhiladelphia Inquirer. Officials said the move will add 91,000 square feet to the 49,000-square-foot operation. The newspaper noted that Rastelli is co-packing retail frozen cheesesteaks in partnership with Tony Luke's of South Philadelphia.
