Buffalo Trace Celebrates Grand Opening of New Distribution Center

After breaking ground on a $20 million expansion investment last year, the Buffalo Trace Distillery is celebrating the grand opening of its 83,000 s.f. distribution center. The facility is revolutionary with the utilization of an automated retrieval and storage system (ASRS) consisting of satellite technology to store and retrieve pallets of finished goods. The Sazerac Company, the parent company of Buffalo Trace, is the first spirits supplier in the U.S. to use this advanced system. Watch this video to see the ASRS in action at the distillery.

Gray Team at Buffalo Trace Grand Opening

Frankfort, KY

Location
103,000 s.f.

Square Footage
17 months

Operational

Gray Construction was selected to perform design-build services on this expansion project. Due to the distillery’s status as a National Historic Landmark, the company invested additional funds to ensure the new architectural features would appropriately match the 224-year-old appearance. Westfalia Technologies, Inc. installed the ASRS. The expansion connects to the existing distribution center making the total warehouse 134,840 s.f.

The $20 million investment is part of Sazerac’s $71 million investment into the state of Kentucky for its three distilleries. The Glenmore Distillery, another Gray project, is receiving a new 223,000 s.f. distribution center, which is slated for completion in early 2016, and the Barton 1792 Distillery recently added new equipment to improve its production capacity.

Gray Construction, a nationally ranked engineering, architecture and construction firm, has over 55 years of experience in manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, distribution, hospitality and retail facility construction. Currently, Gray has several large projects that are underway or recently completed including: a Michelin Earthmover tire manufacturing plant in Anderson, S.C.; a manufacturing plant for ZF Transmissions in Gray Court, S.C.; a Buffalo Trace Distillery Inc. distribution facility in Frankfort, Ky.; and a Glenmore Distillery project in Owensboro, Ky.; a specialty pet food kitchen and distribution center for Champion Petfoods in Auburn, Ky; and a fresh pork processing facility in Coldwater, Michigan for Clemens Food Group.

If you have food and beverage plant construction needs, please contact Phil Seale, Executive Vice President, Manufacturing/Food & Beverage Groups at pseale@gray.com. Or, contact Tyler Cundiff, Senior Manager, Business Development, Food & Beverage Group at tcundiff@gray.com.

July 27, 2015