Quebec-based cookie maker Leclerc investing $50M in new Tennessee plant
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Company buying 110,000 sq. ft. facility in Kingsport, Tenn., plans to hire 100 workers over the next three years
Based just outside Quebec City, the company now has seven cookie and snack bar manufacturing plants across the U.S and Canada. PHOTO: Leclerc
SAINT-AUGUSTIN-DE-DESMAURES, Que.—Canadian cookie and snack bar manufacturer Leclerc Group Inc. is stepping up its presence in the southern U.S.
The company announced Jan. 24 it has acquired a 110,000 sq. ft. facility in Kingsport, Tennessee and plans to invest $50 million in the new site over the next five years.
“This acquisition fits our business vision and development strategy,” Denis Leclerc, the company’s president, said in a statement. “The facility will only produce certified gluten-free products to meet special customer needs.”
The new plant will become the company’s seventh North American location and its second in the northeast Tennessee city. Leclerc plans to install a new gluten-free production line at the plant and hire about 100 workers over the next three years.
Based just outside Quebec City in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, the cookie maker has grown from a small sweets business started out of a family kitchen in 1905 to an international operation. It now exports to more than 20 countries.
