Executives at G&S Foods opened the doors yesterday on a 351,000 square-foot plant outside Hanover that they expect will employ at least 1,000 people within the next three years.
The factory will begin production later this summer with a staff of about 400 to start, according to G&S Foods CEO Dan Morgan.
It will make and package pretzels, puffs and other snacks under contracts with consumer-packaged goods companies.
While contractors were putting finishing touches on the plant yesterday, G&S employees ushered dozens of guests on tours of the cavernous facility, which is at 391 N. Blettner Ave. in Conewago Township, Adams County.
Morgan declined to share the total cost but said it was north of $100 million. The building includes room to grow into.
G&S has an existing plant in Abbottstown of about 110,000 square feet and has not yet decided whether to keep it, Morgan said.
Why is this happening: The series of decisions that led to the new factory can be traced back to the sale of Hanover-based Snyder’s-Lance to Campbell Soup in 2018.
After the sale, Tricia Warehime, widow of longtime Snyder’s leader Michael Warehime, wanted to keep the family in the snack-food business.
Retirement was an option, she told biznewsPA yesterday. “But it just didn’t feel right.”
A self-described collaborator, she brought together former Snyder’s executives to create a vehicle called MAW Acquisitions, which bought G&S Foods in 2018.
The executives were familiar with G&S, a contract manufacturer founded in 1996 by Steve Garvick and Dale Spahr (the G and S of G&S). And they felt the business had room to grow.
“We got a really good foundation, and we built on that,” Warehime said in an address before tours began.
Hanover-area state Reps. Kate Klunk and Dan Moul praised the company for staying and growing in the Hanover area, which is known for its snack-food manufacturers.
“You could locate this plant anywhere in the world, really,” said Klunk, who sported a gold pretzel brooch. “But keeping it here in Pennsylvania is true to your roots. It’s true to Mike (Warehime)’s commitment and service to community.”
Who’s in charge: Morgan is the former chief sales officer of Snyder’s.
Before joining G&S in 2021, he was president and chief commercial officer of BFY Brands, the maker of PopCorners snacks, which was sold to PepsiCo.
Other industry veterans on the leadership team include Charles “Ed” Good, a former Snyder’s CFO; Thomas Dempsey, a former executive at Hanover-based Utz Brands; and Peter Michaud, a former divisional president at Snyder’s Lance.
Dempsey, Good, Michaud and Warehime are G&S board members, with Good serving as chairman. Morgan is also on the board.
What’s next: G&S is not just rolling out a new factory. The company plans to do more to elevate its brand in the North American snack food industry, Morgan said.
“As we start to morph this business into bigger scale, bigger capabilities and just bigger capacity, we’ve got to start to think about how we market ourselves,” he said.
The neighbors: The opening of the G&S facility follows news that Campbell Soup is investing $72 million in an expansion of its Hanover-area snack plant, which makes pretzels, potato chips and tortilla chips.
Utz, meanwhile, is planning to erect a 650,000 square-foot distribution center in the region.
Editor’s note: This story has been changed from its original version to correct and expand on the composition of G&S’s board.
