Flower Foods invests $25 million to expand Lynchburg bakery

Thomasville, Georgia-based Flowers Foods will invest $25 million to expand its Lynchburg bakery into an organic facility that will create 15 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday.

Flowers Foods was founded in 1919 and opened its Lynchburg location 40 years ago. A publicly traded company with $4 billion in 2018 sales, Flowers Foods produces and markets a variety of fresh and frozen bakery products. Its brands include Wonder Bread, Nature’s Own, CanyonBakehouse, Tastykake amd Mrs. Freshley’s.

The company employs 9,700 people among its 46 bakeries in 18 U.S. states.

“Flowers Foods’ bakery is an institution in Lynchburg,” Northam said in a statement. “Focusing the bakery on the growing market for organic food will help secure its future in Virginia. The food processing industry has blossomed both in Lynchburg and in our commonwealth, and we are proud to support Flowers Foods as they grow and prosper here.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the city of Lynchburg and Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance to secure the project for Virginia. Northam approved a $250,000 performance-based grant for the project from the Virginia Investment Partnership Grants Fund.

“Supporting the retention and expansion of existing businesses is the No. 1 priority of our economic development efforts in the city of Lynchburg,” Mark Strosnider, chair of the Lynchburg Economic Development Authority, said in a statement. “Lynchburg and its citizens are stronger because companies like Flowers choose to grow here, and we are proud to support their investment in our city.”