Sweet bread company King’s Hawaiian has added another project to the site of an upcoming new manufacturing plant planned for the Columbus, Ind. area, which will add another 150 jobs to the area.
Announced in December, Irresistible Foods Group, parent of Torrance, Calif.-based King’s Hawaiian, plans to build a 300,000-square-foot bakery and production facility near Taylorsville, Ind., in Bartholomew County. The company said it expects to break ground for the $180 million project this year, with the facility to become operational in late 2026 or early 2027, with 150 employees. The plant will produce King’s Hawaiian’s line of baked foods and represent the brand’s first production site in the Midwest.
This week, Columbus-area newspaper The Republic reported that Irresistible Foods has an additional project in the works for the property that includes a $40 million facility investment plus $14 million for new equipment, which would bring another 150 jobs for the area. Citing an official from the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp., The Republic also said that the county has granted Irresistible Foods tax abatements for the new project.
Joe Leonardo, senior vice president and chief operations officer at King’s Hawaiian, declined to provide details on the additional project for the Taylorsville site because an official announcement is planned.
“The $54 million new investment is a separate project/operation, not an expansion of the previously announced project,” said Joe Leonardo, senior vice president and chief operations officer at King’s Hawaiian. He said permits are pending and a timetable for the groundbreaking is expected soon.
“We had bought 86 acres for our King’s Hawaiian expansion — the original project announced in December — and the potential of future growth,” he said. “Location and community are a great fit for us, and (we) decided to expand on existing property.”
Currently, King’s Hawaiian operates two manufacturing facilities in Torrance and another — its largest facility — in Oakwood, Ga.