Nestle's Freshly to Open 2nd Meal Delivery Hub in Georgia, Add 665 Jobbs

The news comes four months after the company announced a new $3.2 million facility that will staff 250 people.

Freshly
Freshly

ELLENWOOD, Ga. (AP) — A meal delivery service owned by Swiss food giant Nestle is opening a second distribution center in suburban Atlanta, investing another $52 million and hiring another 665 workers.

Freshly announced the Clayton County project Tuesday, four months after it announced a $3.2 million center in Austell projected to employ 250 people.

The subscription service delivers precooked meals that customers can quickly reheat and eat.

Freshly has been expanding rapidly since Nestle acquired it last year, giving it the financial backing for growth. The company said Tuesday's announcement was prompted by increasing customer demand.

Freshly will qualify for a state income tax credit allowing it to deduct $4,000 per job from Georgia income taxes for five years, worth up to $13.3 million. If the company doesn’t incur that much state income tax liability, it can take much of the money from personal income taxes that workers pay. For Freshly to qualify, workers must make at least $28,000 a year.

The company said it plans to begin hiring in 2022 for warehousing, operations and maintenance positions at a 289,000-square-foot (27,000-square-meter) facility in Ellenwood.

Georgia will provide an unspecified amount to train workers. Clayton County could abate property taxes, and Freshly is likely to qualify for other benefits including sales tax breaks on equipment.

Based in New York, Freshly has facilities in Arizona, New Jersey, Maryland and California.

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