Oatly has announced plans to increase oat base capacity at its factory in Ogden, Utah, and for a new production facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
During the second half of this year, Oatly will begin work on an expansion project at its Ogden plant, which will see the oat beverages maker add 75 million litres of finished goods equivalent oat base capacity. Oat base provides the foundation for the brand’s drinks.
The expansion will increase the company’s total estimated finished goods equivalent oat base capacity from 1,000 million to 1,075 million litres annually by the end of 2022.
Oatly says that it will deliver the Ogden capacity expansion – which aims to support “an acceleration in consumer demand” – within its previously stated plan for capital expenditures.
Meanwhile, the planned 280,000-square-foot manufacturing centre in Fort Worth is expected to create more than 100 jobs once completed in 2023.
The new factory will be Oatly’s third production facility in North America and will produce an estimated 150 million litres of oat milk annually.
“We’re excited to break ground on this factory in Fort Worth, which we believe will allow us to meet the growing demand for Oatly’s products and grow our positive impact on the planet,” said Oatly president North America, Mike Messersmith.
Commenting on the Ogden site expansion, Oatly CEO Toni Petersson said: “In March of 2021 we opened Oatly’s first-ever end-to-end self-manufacturing production facility in the Americas region and we’re excited that based on an acceleration in consumer demand in the region we are already increasing capacity with construction starting in the second half of this year”.
He added: “We believe the fundamentals of our business are stronger than ever as consumer demand continues to accelerate, and we are increasing production capacity globally to meet that growing demand”.
Meanwhile, SunOpta has also chosen the Fort Worth-Dallas area as the location for a new ‘mega facility’, which it says will support long-term growth in the company’s plant-based business.
SunOpta has said that it is in the final stages of negotiating a lease for the construction of the facility, which it expects to be operational by late 2022.
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