Juanita’s Foods is set to move production to a newly acquired manufacturing facility in Santa Fe Springs in California.
The company, which makes Mexican-style menudo and pozole products, has purchased a 120,000-square-foot plant at 13100 Arctic Circle. The California-based business did not disclose financial details of the transaction.
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In a statement, Juanita’s Foods said the location will become its “primary manufacturing site”, consolidating production based at its Wilmington plant.
The transition to the Santa Fe Springs facility will be phased, the company confirmed, to protect “supply continuity” for retail and foodservice customers.
Responding to Just Food, Juanita’s Foods human resources SVP Anna De León said the transition timeline has not been finalised.
She said the move has been planned for “several years” to support “long-term growth in capacity and ensuring continuity of supply” for customers.
De León added the new site would give Juanita’s Foods “significant room to grow production” without providing specific figures as “capacity planning is still underway”.
In a statement, Juanita’s Foods CEO Robert Rosales said: “Santa Fe Springs gives us the capacity, capabilities and room to grow that our brand needs for its next chapter.”
The company plans to move its entire workforce to the Santa Fe Springs plant. It is also working through arrangements for employees unable to relocate, De León confirmed.
Founded in 1946, Juanita’s Foods sells its products through grocery retailers, club stores and foodservice operators.
Private-equity firm Apex Capital acquired a majority stake in the business last year. The De La Torre family, which founded Juanita’s Foods in 1946, retains a “significant” ownership interest in the group.
Commenting on the acquisition, Apex Capital managing partner and Juanita’s Foods board chairman Pedro Palma said: “Securing a permanent manufacturing home in Southern California is an important investment in the company’s future, its employees and the customers it serves.”
