Sioux Honey Association Cooperative, which produces Sue Bee and Aunt Sue’s honey and associated products, broke ground on a $130 million new honey bottling facility in Sioux City, Iowa. The company expects the new plant to be the largest honey bottling manufacturing plant in the world, according to statements made during the groundbreaking ceremony and carried by local news reports.

Sioux Honey announced plans for the project, which includes a new corporate office, warehouse and a 440,000-sq.-ft. processing facility, some six months ago. Once the Sioux City project is finished, the company will relocate its Anaheim, Calif., operations there and create somewhere between 35 and 40 new jobs, news reports noted. The renovated corporate office and warehouse are expected to be finished in 2027, and the new processing facility in 2028.

Sioux Honey has had a presence in Sioux City for more than 100 years. It started in 1921 with a group of five beekeepers near Sioux City who agreed to share equipment and processing facilities, and today it includes more than 150 beekeepers nationwide. The company built its current Siouxland location in 1962.