March Food & Beverage Facility Investment Activity Holds Steady

Activity is still down slightly from 2020's average, showing that capital spending may still be curtailed by the lasting COVID-19 pandemic.

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After a weak January, facility capital investment projects in the food & beverage space has rebounded with back-to-back solid months, according to the latest report from industrial and commercial market intelligence firm SalesLeads.

The firm's latest monthly report covering planned food & beverage construction and upgrade projects in North America showed that activity held steady during March with 70 such projects that equaled that from February and up from 60 in January. SalesLeads' tracked an average of 72.7 projects per month during 2020 (down 9 percent from 2019), showing that activity may still be subdued due to lasting business impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

SalesLeads' March recap was broken down as follows:

  • 55 projects were for processing facilities (53 in February, 47 in January)
  • 20 were for distribution and industrial warehouse (14 in February, 20 in January)
  • 26 were new construction projects (23 in February, 23 in January, 23)
  • 18 were expansion projects (20 in February, 12 in January)
  • 35 projects entailed renovations and equipment upgrades (30 in February, 26 in January)
  • 2 projects were for plant closures (2 in February, 5 in January,)
  • California led all US states and territories in March food & beverage facility investment projects with six. New York had five, followed by Texas and Missouri with four each and a six-way tie at three apiece between Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, Illinois, Virginia and Wisconsin.

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During March, SalesLeads identified four new food & beverage facility construction projects with an estimated value of at least $100 million — identical to February. The largest March project is by pet food manufacturer Royal Canin, which plans to invest $390 million to build a processing facility in Lewisburg, OH. Completion is expected in the Fall of 2023.

The other largest food & beverage facility construction projects SalesLeads identified in March included:

  • National Beef Packing Company, which plans to invest $100 million for an expansion and equipment upgrades at its processing facility in Tama, IA.
  • Pilgrim's Pride, which plans to spend $70 million to build a pet food ingredient processing facility in Carnesville, GA.
  • Coca-Cola Bottling Company, which plans to spend $48 million on a 120,000-square-foot expansion and equipment upgrades on its warehouse and distribution facility in Mobile, AL.
  • Tyson Foods, which plans to invest $42 million on a renovation and equipment upgrades at its processing plant in Columbia, SC.
  • Central Valley Meat, which is planning a 290,000-square-foot expansion and equipment upgrades on its warehouse and processing facility in Hanford, CA. Investment amount is unknown.
  • Ren Seafoods, which plans to invest $12 million to renovate and upgrade equipment on a processing and distribution facility in Mobile, AL.
  • Windy Hill Food Group, which is planning a renovation and upgrade quipment on a recent-acquired 60,000-square-foot warehouse in Lockport, IL. Investment amount is unknown.
  • Tampico Bottling Company, which is planning a renovation and equipment upgrades on a recently-acquired 107,000-square-foot processing facility in Palestine, TX. Investment amount is unknown.
  • Tattersall Distilling, which is planning a renovation and equipment upgrades on a 75,000-square-foot production facility in River Falls, WI. Investment amount is unknown.
  • Greater Cleveland Food Bank, which is planning to build a 198,000-square-foot distribution center and office facility in Cleveland, OH. Investment amount is uknown.

See our recap of SalesLeads’ February Food & Beverage facility capital spending projects here.

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