IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
A leading food manufacturing company will expand its operations in Rancho Cucamonga.
Hillshire Brands Co. has leased a 76,000-square-foot industrial building at 9955 6th St. where it will employ at least 100 people, according to a source familiar with the lease who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The company is preparing to occupy the building, which it will use for warehouse-distribution and some light manufacturing. The structure is expected to be ready in about one month, according to the source, who was not authorized to discuss details of the transaction.
Most recently, the building was used by Western Container Corp., the main manufacturer of bottles for Coca-Cola.
Hillshire Brands already operates a 45,000-square-foot logistics operation at Jersey Boulevard and Red Oak Street that employs 50 to 60 people. That facility is not expected to be impacted by the 6th St. operation, according to the source.
Rancho Cucamonga has become an unofficial destination for food processing companies: Mission Foods and Frito Lay already occupy major warehouse-distribution operations in the city, said Linda Daniels, Rancho Cucamonga’s assistant city manager.
“It’s a wonderful thing for the city,” Daniels. “More jobs are always good, and it’s good when you get some manufacturing.”
Rancho Cucamonga didn’t offer Hillshire Brands incentives to expand, Daniels said.
Chicago-based Hillshire Brands manufactures and distributes packaged meat and frozen bakery products for retail stores and the foodservice industry.
The company generates about $4 billion in annual sales and employs about 9,000 people worldwide, and its brands include Jimmy Dean, Ball Park, Hillshire Farm, State Fair and Sara Lee, according to the company’s website.
Hillshire Brands was formed in 2012, when Sara Lee Corp., the company best known for its frozen foods, spun off its international coffee and tea business. Every other division was then renamed Hillshire Brands, according to the website.
