McCormick Celebrates Expansion Groundbreaking

This addition, which includes 20,000 s.f. of refrigerated warehouse space was completed on May, 2011.

McCormick has been a leader in the food industry since 1889 providing spices, herbs, and flavorings.

This is Gray’s first design-build project for McCormick. The Gray team will provide architecture, construction management, fire protection and civil, electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering. If you have food plant construction needs, please contact Tyler Cundiff, Manager of Business Development, Food & Beverage Group at tcundiff@gray.com.

For more information on the event, please read below for the full November 3, 2010 article by Ed Semmler of the Southbend Tribune.

Spice maker McCormick plans to expand in South Bend

By ED SEMMLER Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — McCormick and Co. is ready to begin construction of a 50,000-square-foot distribution center to support expanding production at its local plant.

The distribution center will service McCormick’s major food service customers in the United States and Canada, including global restaurant chains.

Portions of the facility will be refrigerated.

Including equipment, the company is investing about $6 million on the distribution center. South Bend is providing tax abatement to support the project, said Mayor Stephen Luecke.

The city was competing against Illinois, Michigan and other states for the distribution center, Luecke said.”It’s a great statement of confidence in the South Bend location,” Luecke said. “McCormick is pleased with the work force because they buy into the company’s philosophy, and they like the location for distribution.”

McCormick has operated a facility at 3425 Lathrop Drive, South Bend, for a number of years. About six years ago, the spice company moved some operations from other plants to the South Bend location, Luecke said.

McCormick already employs about 120 in South Bend, and the expansion should allow the company to hire five more full-time workers, Luecke said. The company also has indicated it has the ability to continue expanding in South Bend should its business continue to grow.

“This investment supports McCormick’s vision of the South Bend facility becoming the supplier of choice, leading in reliability and industry measurements of excellence,” the company said in a news release. The distribution center is scheduled to be operational by June.

McCormick is a global leader in the manufacture, marketing and distribution of spices, herbs, seasonings, specialty foods and flavors to the entire food industry. The company, which has about 7,500 employees, reported sales of nearly $3.2 billion in its last fiscal year.