NEW CAMBRIA, KS — Farmer Direct Foods broke ground on its $2.2 million facility expansion and modernization project, which is set to accelerate production capacity regulation within its operation. Farmer Direct Foods employees, executives, customers and local officials were in attendance at the event in addition to members of the New Cambria community.
The 9,000-sq.-ft. warehouse will increase capacity on the milling side of the operation by 30% and will include a modern automated packaging line, optimizing flexibility, consistency and production.
“The new facility will be used for just distribution and warehousing, but that will open up our current warehouse and we will turn that into an operations area,” said Keaton Hale, VP of operations at Farmer Direct Foods. “Essentially, we will double our capacity for operations room and open up availability for future projects.”
With the new facility, the flour company will be able to better serve its clients, meet the growing demand for climate-friendly flour and other grain-based products, and maximize its current factory to its entire use.
“From a business development standpoint, we will be able to better supply the end customer quicker,” said Hayley Nelson Eckert, co-founder and VP of strategy and sales at Heirloom Brands, the parent company of Farmer Direct Foods. “We are currently shipping it all to a third-party logistics warehouse and then shipping out of a third-party logistics warehouse to end customers. So, with increasing warehouse space and having our own warehouse here, we will be able to support out customer orders and speed up the process.”
