Nestle to invest US$550M to expand Georgia pet food factory
by Associated Press
Total workforce to increase to 370.
CITY OF HARTWELL — Pet food manufacturer Nestle Purina will invest $550 million to expand a recently completed factory in northeast Georgia, with plans to expand its workforce to a total of 370.
The Hartwell plant, which opened in November 2019, makes Fancy Feast and other wet pet food. The expansion was announced on Dec. 8.
Spokeswoman Tiffany Gildehaus said it will allow the company to make Friskies brand cat food there and also increase the size of its warehouse. The Purina unit saw sales rise by 30% from 2011 to 2019, hitting $9.4 billion and has set a series of expansions, including new factories announced this year in Ohio and North Carolina.
Purina currently employs more than 300 in Hartwell, above the 240 it initially promised the state. The company has already broken ground and Gildehaus said construction is targeted for completion by the end of 2021.
It’s the largest industrial announcement, by dollar value, made so far this year in Georgia, and will bring the Swiss company’s total investment in the Hartwell complex to $870 million.
Purina also employs 400 people at its dry pet food factory in Fairburn, just south of Atlanta.
“Through this investment, we will continue delivering the science-based nutrition pet lovers have come to trust for more than 90 years,” Factory Manager Winston Silva said in a statement.
