Chicago-based meal solutions provider Home Chef has leased a 181,000-square-foot location in Douglasville, Ga., about 20 miles west of Atlanta for a new production center that will bring more capacity and efficiencies. The new location will bring 700 new jobs, and the company said it’s working with the Elevate Douglas Economic Partnership on workforce initiatives.
The new facility is the company's first to incorporate a full-service, 6,000-square-foot kitchen for cooking and batch production of ingredients to be used in the brand’s meals, reports Supermarket News. The Douglasville production center marks Home Chef's first single-tenant facility and is equipped with state-of-the-art features such as an upgraded food-safe material design, cleaning processes and facility flow.
“Our Atlanta facility is a foundational part of delivering high-quality meals to our customers in the South and beyond,” Erik Jensen, CEO of Home Chef, said in a statement. “This brand new center will make our production and distribution even more efficient so we can continue to bring fans easy, delicious recipes.”
Home Chef, part of the Kroger Co., said it offers simple recipes in a variety of formats, ranging from “minimal mess” Oven-Ready and Fast & Fresh meal kits to the Culinary Collection for more adventurous home cooks and add-ons like protein packs, salads, desserts and more, reports Supermarket News.
With operations in the South since 2017, Home Chef added that the Douglasville facility will serve both its e-commerce meal delivery service and retail products businesses.
Home Chef was acquired by Kroger in mid-2018 and has since rolled out its products to over 2,200 Kroger Co. stores nationwide and entered new categories. In quarterly earnings calls, Kroger executives have cited strong sales for Home Chef since the pandemic, and last fall the brand reached sales of $1 billion. Jensen became Home Chef CEO this past February, succeeding founder Pat Vihtelic, who is slated to serve on the company’s advisory board to the end of 2022.