Hearthside's Boise facility begins production

DOWNERS GROVE- Hearthside Food Solutions said its Boise, Idaho, nutritional bar facility had commenced production, bringing new U.S. bar capacity and additional jobs to the Boise market.

Hearthside now operates nine bar plants in the US and Europe.

The bar production facility, idled shortly before being acquired by Hearthside in late 2015, enables the company to add immediate U.S. capacity to its growing bar network. Hearthside moved swiftly to rehire local plant leadership, retrofit, upgrade and restart the reconfigured plant. With an experienced team in place, the timetable was accelerated, enabling the plant to begin production ahead of schedule.

Line #01 of this multiline facility began production this week. The 185,000 square foot plant will employ approximately 168 when it reaches full production.

At the time of this acquisition, Hearthside also acquired VSI, the largest nutritional bar producer in Europe. In addition to capacity, the VSI acquisition brought additional research and development, formulation, and food science capabilities. The Boise facility enables the company to better leverage VSI expertise in the North American market.

"This commencement validates our forward-looking investments in strategic contract manufacturing resources, providing customers with increased options and greater supply chain value," said Rich Scalise, Hearthside chairman and CEO. "We will continue to invest and expand our world-class manufacturing network to meet the demands of premier food companies."