Kraft Heinz Food Company and the city of Garland have partnered on a $143 million expansion project to modernize and upgrade manufacturing capacity. Operating from their facility off Forest ln. since 1949, Kraft Heinz Food Company will make a major new capital investment in Garland, with plans to add new lines of production while also modernizing existing lines.
Kraft Heinz owns and operates one of the oldest manufacturing facilities in Garland. The original facility was built in 1948 and has undergone several expansions over the years as Kraft Heinz has added specific manufacturing and storage capabilities to the site, bringing the total square footage in excess of 635,000 square feet. With such a long history, the company has been and remains a staple of the community.
The planned investment will include significant facility renovations for employee wellness and purchases of additional machinery and equipment to add 2-3 new lines of production as well as modernize existing lines. At approximately 1,500 employees across two facilities, Kraft Heinz is already a major employer; however, they intend to add to this by hiring 200± new positions to accommodate the increases in production bringing payroll over $100 million including benefits.
The expansion and upgrades will occur over the course of three years beginning this year and continuing until 2026. Approximately $74 million has been allocated for new production lines and $60 million for modernization of existing lines. The remainder of the investment is towards other equipment and facility upgrades.
The approved expansion will also significantly grow the city’s target industry of food and beverage production. Kraft Heinz’s Garland operation is one of the company’s largest manufacturers of Lunchables, Kraft barbecue sauce, and vinegar, with plant distribution reaching across the country. They lead the pack of several other major food manufacturers in Garland, including: Daisy Brand, Bake Mex, US Foods and First Place Foods.
One of the components of the incentives offered by the city includes assistance for enhanced façade and exterior improvements. “As the city continues to revitalize and redevelop, it is becoming increasingly more important to beautify our industrial district and to have an attractive workplace for employees, so the city is excited to participate in bringing that to the employees of Kraft Heinz,” said Ayako Schuster, Garland’s director of Economic Development. “Kraft Heinz has been a great long-time partner with the city and we look forward to their continued growth within our city.”
Garland’s industrial district has seen a number of redevelopment and expansion projects in the past several years. These projects have ranged in size from the redevelopment of the prior Raytheon campus into over 760,000 square feet of new flex industrial buildings to smaller infill projects such as Marquis Logistics which brought over 200,000 square feet of new industrial space in 2023. Additional redevelopment, adaptive reuse and infill projects are continuing to play a major role in future development of Garland.
Information and photo provided by city of Garland.