InnovAsian Cuisine Enterprises Inc. will build a 175,000-sq.-ft. frozen food manufacturing facility in Jonesboro, Ark., that will create approximately 200 new jobs. The exact cost was not specified, but today’s (Feb. 3) announcement said Japanese corporate parent “Nichirei will make a capital contribution of approximately $105 million to InnovAsian in 2026 to initiate the project.”
InnovAsian, a subsidiary of Nichirei Foods Inc., sells a number of Asian dishes in the U.S. market, including multi-serve entrées, sides, appetizers and single-serve meals. For 20 years, it’s been manufacturing from and headquartered in Seattle. The new facility will significantly increase production capacity for its multi-serve entrée line, supporting the company’s continued growth in the U.S. market.
There apparently is local and state support or funding. Arkansas Economic Development Commission participated in the announcement.
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Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.