16 July 2008 - Minneapolis-based chemical products firm Hawkin's Inc. has acquired a 77,000 square foot facility in Centralia, Illinois for an undisclosed sum.
According to a company announcement, the facility will be mainly used for expanding its lactate and other food ingredient manufacturing capacity.
It is expected that the facility will be fully operational in the summer of 2009.
Chief Executive Officer, John R. Hawkins, commented: "We have enjoyed significant growth in the volumes of our manufactured specialty food products. As we searched for new capacity and strived to be closer to our raw material suppliers and customers for this product line, we are pleased to have found this existing structure in this strategic location. This acquisition will ultimately allow us to free up capacity at our Minneapolis site for other business growth opportunities."
John Sevenich, Vice President-Industrial Group, added: "The facility has everything we need, including adequate rail car siding capacity, which is critical to keeping our supply transportation costs down. We intend to have a state-of-the art specialty chemical manufacturing facility when we are finished with the build-out of this site."
Hawkins has been manufacturing food ingredients since 1994. In May last year, the company acquired Trumark Inc., a manufacturer of lactate salts used as listeria inhibitors in the meat industry.