BELOIT, WIS. – Kerry announced that it has opened its coating production facility in Rome, Ga. 

The company said the investment totaled $125 million and updated a 360,000-square-foot manufacturing space. The facility will produce Japanese breadcrumb (panko-style), cracker meal and breader blends. The new breadcrumb and cracker meal production lines are now up and running and the blending lines will be complete later in 2021.

“Our investment in this best-in-class production facility underscores Kerry’s commitment to delivering high-demand coatings to meet our customers’ current and emerging needs,” said Daryl Adel, meat end use market executive of Kerry. “Used in combination with our unrivalled taste and nutrition technologies and expertise, our coatings portfolio can deliver on virtually any product need. We’re excited to be at the forefront of coatings technologies and capacity and look forward to supporting our customers’ growth through our flagship facility in Rome, and our four other coatings productions facilities in North America.”

Kerry also said the new facility is using 100% renewable electricity and will feature a zero waste to landfill by the end of 2021.

“Kerry has made sustainability a cornerstone of our Rome, Ga., expansion, and our customers and their consumers can be assured of our commitment to creating products that are meaningfully better for people and the planet,” Adel said. 

Along with the updates and expansions to the plant Kerry announced the release of an online custom-coating creator tool that allows people in the food industry to check different coating, flavor and taste solutions.