The business – a subsidiary of ingredients giant Archer Daniels Midland Company – has completed the expansion of its peanut processing operation in Dawson, Georgia, which was announced last summer.
Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts said it has grown capacity by making improvements and additions across the plant’s processes, including farmerstock handling, preparation, extraction and meal production, as well as certification and rail enhancements.
“When we first announced this project last year, we told our customers that we were doing it to help them meet increasing demand for cleaner labels and for non-GMO, non-trans-fat ingredients,” said Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts president Greg Mills.
“We’re proud to be delivering on that promise.”
The business said it had started shipping increased volumes of products to customers across the US.
New office opening
Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts also announced the opening of a new office in Albany, Georgia, designed to improve the firm’s regional operations by bringing together staff from around the Southeast.
“This new regional office will bring together key leaders, putting them under the same roof for better and faster communications and decision-making, which will benefit our customers and our company,” Mills said.
Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts has 10 processing facilities in the US and one in Argentina. It is also the majority owner of three peanut processing plants in South Africa – in Hartswater, Hoopstad and Jan Kempdorp - and owns a 51% share in pecan processor and marketer GPC Pecan SA.
In June this year, the company announced it is investing in upgrading and modernizing its warehouse in Vienna, Georgia, which has a capacity of approximately 40,000 tons of peanuts. It said the work would make the site more efficient for its partner farmers, and improve the quality of stock sent to processing operations.