Kroger Co. is spending $70 million to expand a dairy facility in Ohio to include an aseptic milk line, the grocer said.
The project, which will add 150 jobs, is at the company's Tamarack Farms Dairy in Newark, near Columbus.
Kroger owns a network of dairy facilities across the country to supply products to the company's 2,800 stores. Tamarack Farms is a 20-acre site that serves about 160 brick-and-mortar locations in Ohio and West Virginia as well as the company's online business.
The aseptic expansion will process products including half and half, heavy whipping cream, coffee creamers and Carbmaster low-carb milk in shelf-stable packaging.
"Kroger's significant investment transforms the Tamarack Farms Dairy into an aseptic processing facility, creating a new market for Ohio's dairy industry," said Tim Derickson, senior managing director of food and agribusiness for JobsOhio, the state's economic development agency. "The extended shelf-life dairy product that will come from the cutting-edge operations in the Licking County facility will meet growing demand for Kroger's customers nationwide and boost demand for dairy farmers throughout Central Ohio."
Kroger is one of the largest grocery store chains in the United States with 2,800 locations operating under its flagship brand as well as several regional identities, including King Soopers, Roundy's, Dillons, Fry's, Food4Less and Harris Teeter.
Tamarack Farms calls itself the largest fluid dairy product producer in Ohio.