Nellson LLC to relocate manufacturing facility in Southern California

Nellson LLC, an Anaheim, Calif.-based provider of nutrition bars and powders for contract manufacturing and private brand customers, said it plans to replace its aging Irwindale, Calif., operation with a new facility nearby. Nellson secured a new site in Ontario, Calif., and will invest between $40 million and $50 million to create a world-class production facility.

“Our leadership team has been evaluating options for transforming our Irwindale facility into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to better serve the rapidly evolving needs of our customers," said Jamie Better, Nellson’s CEO. "After months of review, we concluded this goal can be better accomplished by building an entirely new facility, rather than retrofitting the current location.

"In selecting the Ontario site, it was critically important to us that the new facility be within a short drive from the existing location, as we want to retain our experienced workforce and all their bar-making expertise," he added. "Our goal is to have the new facility fully operational by the first quarter of 2018.”

Nellson said the new facility will include:

• Approximately 300,000 square feet under one roof for optimal efficiency, increased capacity and expansion space to support future growth.
• A state-of-the-art R&D lab to support corporate R&D efforts, as well as commercial scale-up and testing of customer formulations.
• Segregated production lines that provide brand confidentiality, maximum allergen control, food safety and efficient sanitation, as well as flexible scheduling.
• Additional process capabilities for new product formats and shapes.
• New packaging capabilities to support on-trend consumer demands.

“The decision to build a new site represents the next step in our aggressive transformation of Nellson under Kohlberg & Company’s ownership," Better said. "In Montreal, we have best-in-class bar-making capabilities in the former MultiBar facility and our Lachine facility, where we recently invested over $15 million to expand capacity and upgrade our operations; we also just completed a $10 million upgrade and expansion of our Anaheim powder plant. These investments reflect our determination to be the co-manufacturing partner of choice for the leading brands in the nutritional bar and functional powder marketplace.”