Expanded Lamb Weston french fry processing plant in Hermiston begins operations

Food processing news : Lamb Weston has completed a previously announced $250 million expansion of its french fry processing plant in Hermiston, Oregon.

The expansion of the potato processing plant, which was announced in 2017, involved the addition of a new processing line with a capacity of processing 300 million pounds of potatoes annually. Lamb Weston then said that the french fry processing plant in Hermiston will be modeled after its $200 million potato processing facility in Richland in Washington state.

Lamb Weston said that following the 300,000sft expansion, more than 500 employees at the french fry processing plant in Hermiston will make around 750 million pounds of frozen french fries annually, which will be served across restaurants in the US and in other parts of the world.

Below photo : Lamb Weston employees closed the ceremony with a ribbon cutting. Shown left to right: Rick Martin, Chief Supply Chain Officer; Leslie Winker, 45 year tenured employee; Neal Flyg, Hermiston Plant Manager; Tom Werner, President & CEO; Wayne Claver, Senior Director of Manufacturing; Carol Samoray, Vertical Stand-up Manager; and Brian Jackson, Engineering Manager

Ribbon cutting of the expanded Lamb Weston french fry processing plant in Hermiston. Photo courtesy of Lamb Weston

Commenting on the expansion of the french fry processing plant in Hermiston, Lamb Weston President and CEO Tom Werner said: “This expansion allows us to meet the growing global demand for french fries.

“We’re proud to be part of the community in Hermiston, and we’re especially grateful to our dedicated team and local partners who worked so diligently to make this expansion a reality.”

The expansion of the potato processing plant in Hermiston has created nearly 150 jobs.

Lamb Weston, which supplies frozen potato, appetizer, sweet potato and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers across the world, operates 25 manufacturing plants in North America, Europe, Australia, and China.

In December 2018, Lamb Weston acquired Australian frozen potato processor Marvel Packers (Lamb Weston acquisition of Marvel Packers) to add close to 50 million pounds of production capacity to its global manufacturing network. Prior to that, in April 2018, Lamb Weston / Meijer and Belaya Dacha Group opened their jointly owned RUB8.7 billion (€115 million) french fry factory in Lipetsk in western Russia.

For more food processing news, keep following Business News Today.