Lollicup USA Inc. expects to quadruple manufacturing capabilities through an expansion into Texas.
The Chino, Calif.-based maker of disposable plastic foodservice packaging will start with new warehouse space in Wilmer, Texas, set to open in July.
Company spokeswoman Julia Gutierrez said leasing that space allows Lollicup to establish operations in Texas with plans to then construct a manufacturing site.
“It's always a goal of ours to increase employment and increase our capabilities,” she said. “It's us just continuing that trend of growth. We're doing our best to keep on growing in every fashion we can, including manufacturing.”
Lollicup will temporarily use the warehouse location as work takes place on a 450,000-square-foot facility in Rockwall, Texas. Rockwall is about 35 miles from Wilmer in the Dallas area.
Lollicup makes thermoformed PET cups and lids at its Chino manufacturing site, and that also will be taking place at the new Texas site. The company also makes paper cups in Chino, but Gutierrez said plastic cups account for the bulk of the production.
The company manufactured 960 million cups last year and expects that number to top 1 billion this year.
Lollicup has selected a site for the new plant, but has not yet broken ground. Construction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018, the company said. Lollicup expects to hire more than 200 workers at the new plant.
Lollicup currently has about 400 workers, Gutierrez said.
“With this expansion, the company is expected to quadruple its manufacturing capabilities. It will also service its customers more efficiently by shortening shipping times within this region,” Lollicup said in a statement.
Along with the manufacturing site in Chino, the company has warehouse locations in Chino, Sumner, Wash., and Summerville, S.C.
News of the Texas expansion comes just a month after Lollicup revealed plans for a new extruder in Chino that will cut energy use by 25 percent and increase manufacturing capacity by 50 percent.
The Reifenhäuser Group extruder arrived in March and should be operational this summer, the company said. Existing extruders will then be decommissioned.
