Schwan’s Company, a Bloomington, Minnesota, USA-headquartered value-added frozen food manufacturer and subsidiary of Seoul, South Korea-based CJ Foods, is increasing its Investment in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with the purchase of a 142-acre site at Foundation Park to construct a 700,000 square-foot facility for production of Asian-style appetizers and entrees.
The company initially unveiled plans in 2021 for a plant in Sioux Falls, which is projected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and add more than 600 employees to its payroll. Now, in addition, Schwan’s has confirmed plans to open a regional office in downtown Sioux Falls to support its continued expansion and operations at the new manufacturing site. Staffing the regional office is expected to create an additional 50 jobs, with the potential for ramping up to 100 positions once the production facility is complete.
“We thank all state and local officials in South Dakota for helping us make great progress on this project, which will ultimately help us meet the needs of our retail and foodservice customers,” said Schwan’s outgoing CEO Dimitrios P. Smyrnios. “This project will create significant new production capacity, enabling us to continue to support our market share leading Bibigo brand and drive future innovation and growth in the Asian food category. I want to personally thank Governor Kristi Noem and her team for their leadership and commitment to our plans.”
Governor Noem stated: “Schwan’s has recognized the superior business climate that our state offers. I know that their confidence in South Dakota is not misplaced and thank them for the additional investment that they are making.”
She added: “South Dakota just keeps growing. Our ‘Open for Business’ mindset is transforming our state into an economic powerhouse. We have the lowest unemployment rate in America, our peoples’ paychecks are soaring, and with high-caliber companies like Schwan’s joining our winning workforce, there’s no slowing down now.”
Incoming Schwan’s CEO Brian Schiegg commented: “Our investment in this world-class Asian-style food plant in South Dakota will help us strengthen our position in one of the fastest growing food categories in the United States. We look forward to continuing our work with state and local officials to build a facility that will benefit the residents of South Dakota as well as our family of businesses.”
CJ Foods CEO Minsok Pak added: “The US market continues to deliver high growth for us and the ability to continue to scale our portfolio of products to meet the growing consumer demand is vitally important to our strategy. This facility will enable us to further accelerate the growth of K-Food and other Asian cuisines. We appreciate the support from local and state officials and look forward to contributing to our new home in South Dakota.”
