Nellson, the leading full-service nutrition bar and powder provider in North America, announced plans to replace its aging Irwindale, California operation with a new facility nearby. Nellson has secured a new site in Ontario, California and will invest $40-50 million to create a world-class production facility.

Jamie Better, Nellson’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our leadership team has been evaluating options for transforming our Irwindale facility into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to better serve the rapidly evolving needs of our customers. After months of review, we concluded this goal can be better accomplished by building an entirely new facility, rather than retrofitting the current location. In selecting the Ontario site, it was critically important to us that the new facility be within a short drive from the existing location as we want to retain our experienced workforce and all their bar-making expertise. Our goal is to have the new facility fully operational by the first quarter of 2018.”

The decision to seek a new location was driven by Nellson’s commitment to provide its customers with unmatched R&D expertise and the latest process and manufacturing innovations for nutrition bars, as well as a world-class environment for its employees. The new facility will include:

• Approximately 300,000 square feet under one roof for optimal efficiency, increased capacity and expansion space to support future growth
• State-of-the-art R&D lab to support corporate R&D efforts, commercial scale-up, and testing of customer formulations
• Segregated production lines which provide brand confidentiality, maximum allergen control, food safety, and efficient sanitation, as well as flexible scheduling
• Additional process capabilities for new product formats and shapes
• New packaging capabilities to support on-trend consumer demands

Better added, “The decision to build a new site represents the next step in our aggressive transformation of Nellson under Kohlberg & Company’s ownership. In Montreal, we have best-in-class bar making capabilities in the former MultiBar facility and our Lachine facility, where we recently invested over $15 million to expand capacity and upgrade our operations; we also just completed a $10 million upgrade and expansion of our Anaheim powder plant. These investments reflect our determination to be the co-manufacturing partner of choice for the leading brands in the nutritional bar and functional powder marketplace.”