Goldfish snack crackers advance down the production line at the Pepperidge Farm bakery in Richmond in Cache County. The company was
approved for a state tax credit incentive for an expansion at the facility, tied to 86 new high-paying jobs over a decade. The $160 million project
is expected to boost Goldfish production by 50 percent, to 5 million crackers per hour. Photo courtesy The Austin Co.
5 MILLION GOLDFISH CRACKERS EVERY HOUR
Brice Wallace
Pepperidge Farm Inc. will get a state tax credit as it gets cracking on an expansion of Goldfish snack production in Cache County.
Pepperidge Farm, a subsidiary of Campbell Soup Co., announced last summer it would spend about $160 million to expand the Richmond plant and boost its output of Goldfish. At its March meeting, the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board approved a tax credit incentive of up to $337,175 over 10 years, tied to the creation of 86 high-paying jobs during that time as a result of the expansion project.
“We’re thrilled to be investing in our Richmond bakery to support the growth of our business and the community,” Chris Foley, Campbell Soup executive vice president and president of Campbell’s Snacks, said in a prepared statement. “We appreciate the support from the state and look forward to seeing the positive impact this project will have on the local economy.”
James McBride, state tax director for Campbell Soup, told the GOEO board that Goldfish have been made in Richmond for over 50 years, “and with this new, latest expansion, we’re positioned to stay in the community for many years to come.”
The company also has operations in Logan, with total employment in Cache Valley of more than 400 people. The bakery expansion will grow the plant by 100,000 square feet and allow the company to increase its capacity by 50 percent. It will be able to produce 5 million Goldfish crackers per hour, or about 1,500 Goldfish every second.
The Richmond facility produces Pepperidge Farm snacks, bakery products and frozen foods. Founded in 1937, the Pepperidge Farm brand includes nearly 100 different snacks, including over 30 varieties of Goldfish crackers and 65 varieties of cookies.
Headquartered in New Jersey, Campbell was founded in 1869 and produces foods and beverages. Its brands include Campbell’s, Cape Cod, Goldfish, Kettle Brand, Lance, Late July, Milano, Pace, Pacific Foods, Pepperidge Farm, Prego, Snyder’s of Hanover, Swanson and V8. The company generated fiscal 2022 net sales of $8.6 billion. The company has about 14,000 employees in North America.
The Cache Valley expansion is Campbell’s third Goldfish capacity growth project in the past two years, following bakery expansions in Lakeland, Florida, and Willard, Ohio.
The Richmond expansion includes the construction of a flour mill adjacent and connected to the bakery, that will be separately owned and operated. Utah Flour Milling LLC will build the mill, which will be a partnership between PHM Brands’ Panhandle Milling and NIPPN Corp. of Japan. The GOEO board in November approved a tax credit incentive of up to $437,272 for Utah Flour Milling for the $79 million project, tied to the creation of 31 high-paying jobs over five years.
The flour mill is expected to increase supply reliability, provide capacity for continued growth and improve plant efficiency. It also will reduce the site’s greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating over 2,200 trucks per year transporting the flour from mill to bakery.
“One of the benefits of this, from an environmental standpoint, is we’re reducing the trucks needed to bring that flour to the bakery, which will have substantial effects,” McBride told the GOEO board.
The GOEO board approved the Pepperidge Farm tax credit through Utah’s Rural Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (REDTIF) program. The 86 new jobs will pay an average of $61,627. Total new wages over 10 years are projected to be more than $48.3 million, and new state tax revenue is expected to be nearly $1.7 million during that period.
Shawn Milne, Cache County economic development director, joked with the GOEO board that Goldfish “keeps a lot of kids entertained and quiet during sacrament meeting, too, so it is very vital to our state.”
“They’ve been a wonderful corporate citizen here in Cache,” he continued. “We love Pepperidge. … They’ve been a great corporate citizen, supporting a lot of community causes. As they noted, they’ve been here for decades and employ a lot of our local people, and they allow us to retain part of our cultural heritage around agriculture.”
In a prepared statement, Ryan Starks, GOEO’s executive director, said Pepperidge Farm “has been a long-standing pillar in the food industry in Northern Utah, and we’re pleased to see the company expand its footprint. Utah has a diverse and thriving agricultural landscape where companies like Pepperidge Farm can leverage local resources and producers. This expansion will continue to foster partnerships within the local supply chain, create many new jobs, and support the economy in rural Utah.”
“Pepperidge Farm has a long-standing history of quality corporate citizenship, and we’re thrilled to see them reinvest in rural Utah,” said Scott Cuthbertson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “This expansion aligns with the state’s focus on food security, and it demonstrates the impact of local community involvement in business retention efforts.”
“Pepperidge Farm brings a welcome expansion to Cache County’s economic and agricultural base,” said Cache County executive David Zook. “For decades, Pepperidge Farm has been an important employer for Cache County residents, as well as a valued partner to our local farmers.”
GOEO does not provide upfront cash incentives. Each year that an incentivized company meets the obligations in its contract with the state, it will qualify to receive a portion of the new, additional state taxes the company paid to the state.