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Greater Richmond, Virginia
“We looked in a lot of other places and at the end of the day we un-derstood that the best place for us to take our dream and our vision, to make it true, is here in Greater Richmond.”
Ronen Zohar, former CEO of Sabra Dipping
Company
Home of Mondelez, the 2nd largest bakery in the U.S.
Industrial electricity rates are 30% below the national average
120+ planned or operating breweries in Va.
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More than 50 food processing companies cur-rently operate in the Greater Richmond region. From Fortune 500 companies like Mondelez to family-owned specialty manufacturers like Fiorucci Foods, Richmond-area businesses produce cookies, cakes, sauces, dips, meats, flavorings and more.
Greater Richmond is home to a variety of bottling and packaging operations, producing cola, coffee, tea and artesian water. Micro-breweries and microdistilleries are growing rapidly with a consumer base enthusiastic about locally produced beverages.
Companies like AMF Bakery, ProSeal and WestRock support the growing food and beverage industry by supplying machinery, processes, and packaging. These businesses are consistently innovating new solutions to help food and beverage producers become more efficient and less wasteful.
AMF Bakery High-speed bakery equipment
BluePrint Automation, Inc. Case packaging machinery
Fiorucci Foods, Inc. (a subsidiary of Campofrio Food Group America) Prepared meats
C.F. Sauer Spices; cooking oils; flavoring extracts & syrups; Duke’s mayonnaise products
Coca-Cola Bottling Company Regional beverage producer and bottling company
Dean Foods Company Milk
Interbake Foods Inc. - Corporate Office Cookies and crackers
Maruchan Virginia, Inc. Noodle soups
Mavalerio Decorative confectionary
Mondelez International (formerly Kraft-Nabisco) Cookies and crackers
WestRock (Formerly MeadWestvaco) Packaging
Sabra Dipping Company Hummus and dips
San-J International, Inc. Tamari sauce
Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods Chilled prepared foods and premium baked goods
KEY COMPANIESBelow is a representative list of food and beverage-related businesses that operate in the Greater Richmond region:
GROWING BUSINESSESn Sabra Dipping Company, maker of America’s most popular hummus, operates the world’s largest facility in Chesterfield County. The company has invested $60 million since locating in the Richmond area in 2008 and con-tinues to expand, including an additional $86 million expansion in 2013 that added a research and development facility and new manufacturing lines.n San-J International Inc. established the first Tamari brewing facility in the United States in Henrico County nearly 30 years ago. The Japanese com-pany has thrived in the region and is planning on investing an estimated $38 million to expand its Henrico plant, adding 18 jobs to its existing 55 employee workforce.
Food Processing Beverage Machinery & Equipment
SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS
Sabra Dipping Company’s plant in Chesterfield County is the largest hummus factory in North America.
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INDUSTRY INCENTIVESBelow is a sampling of available incentives relevant to the food and beverage industry. Contact the Greater Richmond Partnership, Inc. for further information about additional incentive opportunities.
Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund
A grant available to businesses that add value to Virginia-grown agriculture and forestal products
Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund A discretionary, “deal closing” fund to secure a company location or expansion in Virginia and create an incentive to create new jobs
Virginia Economic Development Incentive Grant Assists and encourages companies to invest and to provide new employment opportunities
Virginia Jobs Investment Program Supports the creation of new jobs and investment and helps businesses train new and existing workers
Enterprise Zones Specially designated zones offer additional incentive opportunities
Barge and Rail Usage Tax Credit Tax credit given for moving goods by barge or rail
Research and Development Expenses Tax Credit Tax credit for R&D expenses
Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit A corporate income tax credit of $1,000 for each new full-time job created over a threshold number of jobs
95
295
295
295
64
64
ChesterfieldAirport
1301
288
76
288
1
73
Henrico
Richmond
Hanover
Chesterfield
James River
85
95
Richmond InternationalAirport
HanoverAirport
150
301
H
Ai
895
R R
R R
R R
Port ofRichmond
R R
Average commute time
is only 25 minutes
Norfolk Southern & CSX provide
rail freight service
TRANSPORTATION & ACCESS TO MARKETWhether shipping perishable food products to market or machinery to customers, it’s easy to move goods in any direction from Greater Rich-mond. Interstates I-64, I-95, I-85 and I-295 converge in the metro area, putting 45 percent of the US population and a significant percentage of its manufacturers within a day’s drive. Two of the nation’s largest rail operators provide freight service on double-stack Class I rail lines.
The Richmond International Airport (RIC) handles about 85 million pounds of cargo annually and is designated as a Foreign Trade Zone #207. The Port of Richmond provides domestic and international multi-modal shipping opportunities including service to the Port of Virginia, which is the third-largest container port on the U.S. East Coast with service from nearly 30 international shipping lines to 200 countries.
UPS & FedEx district hubs are located in the
region
Virginia agriculture supplies food and beverage manufacturers with
poultry, livestock and crops such as corn canola, soybeans and more.
The Richmond Region is a proven location for food and beverage
related R&D with companies such as Sabra and WestRock
leading the way.
Greater Richmond offers affordable wages and a productive, skilled labor force of over 5,000 food
workers comfortable with 24/7 operations.
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901 East Byrd Street | Suite 801 | Richmond, VA 23219 | 804-643-3227 | grpva.com
The Greater Richmond Partnership, Inc., is the regional economic development group representing the City of Richmond and the Counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico. We offer site location assistance and other services to domestic and foreign companies planning new or expanded facilities.
Miami
Boston
Richmond
WHY GREATER RICHMOND FOR YOUR BUSINESS? Richmond is the capital of Virginia, the center of commerce, government and academic endeavors:n Home to 8 Fortune 500 headquartersn Population of nearly 1.3 millionn Diverse local economyn Located at the mid-point of the East Coast, less than 100 miles from Washington, D.C., with more than 50 percent of the nation’s consumers within a 750-mile radiusn Excellent transportation network with rail, air, and port servicen Nearly 30 colleges and universities with almost 80,000 students and more than 15,000 degrees conferred annuallyn Virginia is a right-to-work state with moderate wages, low levels of unionization, and Unemployment and Workers’ Compensation costs among the lowest in the U.S.
Top 10 Best States for Business
- Forbes, 2015
Top 10 Mid-Sized American Cities
of the Future- fDi Magazine,
2015
Best Big City
Job Markets- ZipRecruiter,
2015
This Food & Beverage cluster brochure is part of a library of information. Other cluster and specialty brochures include:
BUSINESS CLUSTERS
Supply Chain Management
Health & Life Sciences
Corporate Headquarters
Data Centers
Advanced Manufacturing
Finance & Insurance
Professional & Creative Services
Food & Beverage