KS: Salina Pizza Manufacturer to Expand Facility With $600M Investment, Creating 225 Jobs

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly joined Salina community leaders to celebrate Schwan’s Company’s announcement that it will expand the refrigeration distribution center at its pizza manufacturing facility by 140,000 square feet, creating 225 new jobs. In total, Schwan’s has invested $600 million into its Salina facility. 

Schwan’s, a leading food producer in the United States, is already in the process of adding 400,000 square feet to the manufacturing side of the facility. When that project began in 2020, the company promised there would be additional projects in the coming years.  

“Schwan’s continued growth shows that our work to make Kansas the most pro-business state in the country is paying off,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “With 225 more jobs and $600 million injected into the Salina economy, Schwan’s will continue to be a crucial part of our state’s economic renaissance.” 

This expansion will more than double the size of Schwan’s distribution center built in 2006. The latest project, which is expected to begin in 2023 and be completed in early 2025, will expand the total distribution center space to 245,000 square feet. The company’s manufacturing and distribution components in Salina will exceed 1 million combined square feet upon completion. 

“The ripple effect of Schwan’s expanding operations is felt throughout the Kansas supply chain,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “By sourcing so much of their final product locally – such as food ingredients and packaging materials – the entire food processing ecosystem is strengthened and further validates Kansas as the best place in the nation to do business.” 

The additional distribution center space will be used to increase storage for the pizzas produced at the plant. The state-of-the-art expansion will include a 38,000-pallet-position racking system with three automated pallet cranes. 

“In 2020, we had the honor of announcing to the Salina community a major investment that would enable us to continue to provide delicious pizzas to millions of families for decades to come. I feel a lot of pride and I am also very much humbled by everyone’s execution of this project,” said Dimitrios Smyrnios, CEO of the Schwan’s Company.  

He continued, “This new distribution center will support our expanded production capabilities over the long term. On behalf of everyone at Schwan’s and our parent company, CJ, I once again want to thank the Salina community and federal, state, and local officials in Kansas for helping us make this expansion a success. We especially want to thank our employees at the facility for continuing to make the highest-quality foods.”