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HP Hood, a nationally branded dairy processor, will invest more than $83.5 million to expand dairy processing operations at its Winchester-area facility in Frederick County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced Tuesday.
The project includes upgrades to production and packaging equipment as well as construction of additional warehouse and cooler space. HP Hood’s expansion will provide increased production capacity that will fund technology allowing Hood to offer new products, according to a news release.
“We proudly selected this location to build a greenfield plant more than 24 years ago and have been grateful for the ongoing support of Frederick County and the Commonwealth of Virginia,” HP Hood President and CEO Gary Kaneb said in the release. “This expansion enables us to continue to grow Hood’s business and accommodate the [ever-changing] needs of our customers and continue to provide a market for local dairy farms through our local milk cooperative network.”
HP Hood’s milk cooperative network includes the Dairy Farmers of America and the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association.
The expansion is already underway and expected to be completed this year, according to Sarah Barow, senior director for communications at HP Hood.
Constructed in 2000, Hood’s Winchester-area facility employs more than 600 workers. It processes extended-shelf-life fluid milk as well as nondairy products for Hood’s brands, private-label partners, licensed brands and co-packaging partners. In 2013, HP Hood invested $84.6 million to expand the operation to increase ultra-high temperature production capacity, Barow confirmed in an email.
This expansion will not immediately create new jobs, according to Barow. “We look at staffing needs on an ongoing basis,” she wrote.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) worked with Frederick County and the Frederick County Economic Development Authority to secure the project.
Youngkin approved a $50,000 infrastructure grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, which Frederick County will match with local funds.
HP Hood has more than 3,000 employees and annual sales revenues of about $3.5 billion. The company’s portfolio of retail consumer product brands includes Hood, Heluva Good!, Lactaid, Blue Diamond Almond Breeze and Planet Oat.