Pet Food Processing - March 2023 - 17

PROCESSOR PROFILE
A subsidiary of Siloam Springs, Ark.-based Simmons
Foods, a vertically integrated family-owned food company
producing poultry, pet and animal nutrition products
since 1949, Simmons Pet Food operates manufacturing
facilities in Northwest Arkansas, Emporia, Kan.,
Dubuque, Iowa and Ontario, Canada. With a recent exit
from dry pet food and pet treat production, the company
has set out on a $500 million strategic capacity
growth plan to focus solely on wet pet food.
" A couple of years ago, we put together a growth strategy, "
said Scott Salmon, president of Simmons Pet Food.
" As we worked through the strategy, we realized we
weren't in the position to win in treats and dry pet food,
so it came down to choices. For us, we have a great seat
at the table in wet pet food - we're a leader in the industry.
We're the largest co-manufacturer. We're the largest
private label manufacturer. And it's seen such tremendous
growth that we were cutting our resources down by
staying in the treats and dry pet foods business.
" We developed a new strategy as we went into 2021,
and with that strategy, we had planned on, and are now
fulfilling, a commitment to $500 million in capacity investments, "
he said. " And by the middle of 2024, we will
be well on our way to meeting that goal.
" We've done a series of investments that are significant
that hopefully show our commitment to the communities,
to our team, to the industry and, most importantly,
to the pets we love. "
Capacity driven
Last July, Simmons unveiled its latest expansion plans -
to add a fourth high-speed canning line at its Emporia,
Kan., facility, add a new pet food distribution center in
Edgerton, Kan., and start up a second canning line in its
Dubuque, Iowa, plant - all of which were designed to
take the company's annual sales beyond its current $1.2
billion.
" We've seen double-digit growth for the past three
years - over $1.2 billion in sales - and we don't see our
growth trajectory slowing down at all in 2023, " Salmon
said. " That growth trajectory is why we're putting in line
four in Emporia, beginning construction in 2024, for
completion in 2025. "
The company's Emporia facility has been in operaLeft:
The Simmons Pet Food leadership team includes (from right
to left) Scott Salmon, president; Leah Lambrakis, vice president
of research and development, nutrition and scientific affairs;
Derek Baucom, senior vice president of operations; Brian Potter,
vice president of operations; Craig Bacon, senior vice president
of technical services; and Scott Roberts, senior vice president of
business development and sales operations.
Photography by Ryan Alcantara Photography
tion since 1998, beginning with one line and employing
250 people. Today, the campus includes a separate Flex
plant, which was built in 2019 to produce wet pet food
in pouches, cups and tubs, in addition to the canned pet
food plant next door and a warehouse - a combined 1
million square feet under roof. The combined Emporia
operation now employs more than 1,500 people in fulland
part-time positions.
Ever since the Flex plant was added in 2019, the Can
plant has focused solely on producing canned items on
its current three lines, and all other product for pouches,
cups and tubs was moved over to the two production
lines at the Flex plant.
The fourth production line in Emporia will be capable of
producing 60,000 lbs of canned product per hour. This expansion
will increase the plant's total annual output to more
than 70 million cases after the line is up and running.
The process to add
a fourth canning
line to the Emporia
Can facility will
begin in 2024,
with completion
scheduled for 2025.
www.petfoodprocessing.net | March 2023 | PET FOOD PROCESSING 17
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Pet Food Processing - March 2023

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