Dive Brief:
- Ramen noodles maker Nissin Foods plans to spend $228 million to expand its U.S. presence. The Japan-based company plans to increase its U.S. manufacturing capability by purchasing a 640,640-square-foot building in Greenville County, South Carolina.
- The facility, which is expected to be operational in August 2025, will create more than 300 new jobs. Nissin currently has two manufacturing locations: Gardena, California and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- The investment by Nissin is the latest by a food or beverage company to build, retrofit, or expand an existing facility as they look to increase efficiencies and meet future demand for their products.
Dive Insight:
As demand for ramen continues to surge, Nissin is building out its U.S. footprint in a big way.
The company has seen strong growth recently, first due to the pandemic and then the popularity of its premium and spicy offerings, such as Cup Noodles Hot & Spicy and Stir Fry flavors. Earlier this year, Nissin said it held a 40% share of the instant ramen segment in the U.S.
The company recently reported four consecutive quarters of high double-digit growth driven by its premium product innovations, with a 27% increase in sales at the end of its first quarter in 2023 compared to the same time in 2022.
“Nissin Foods has seen sustained sales growth year-over-year, especially over the last five years, driven by unprecedented demand for our products,” Michael Price, Nissin Foods’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “In addition to being a significant milestone in Nissin’s history, this investment will allow us to optimize production capabilities, grow the organization, bring jobs to the community and continue to fortify our innovation pipeline.”
The facility will produce a range of Nissin Foods' products across its brand portfolio, including Top Ramen, Cup Noodles, Hot & Spicy FIRE WOK, among others, with capacity for further expansion as needed, the company said.
The plant will contribute to the company’s broader goals of reducing its environmental footprint. It will include solar panels, EV charging stations and electric forklifts. Nissin Foods is aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Earlier this year, Nissin completed a multi-million dollar investment in its Lancaster, Pennsylvania distribution center. The company said that with nearly 60% of Nissin's product production coming from the Lancaster facility, the new manufacturing investments increased output by 15%.
As many companies continue to see high demand for their products, many are spending millions of dollars to increase their production capacity to position them for the future. Among the most notable are PepsiCo, Keurig Dr Pepper, J.M. Smucker, Ferrero, Coca-Cola, Mondelēz International, Kraft Heinz and Nestlé.
