US onion producer embarks on new onion packaging facility
River Point Farms, America’s largest onion producer, announces the company broke ground on a new 70,000 square foot whole onion packaging facility featuring state-of-the-art equipment on November 3, 2014. When complete, River Point Farms will operate over 95,000 square feet of whole onion packaging and shipping facilities at the company’s headquarters in Hermiston, Oregon.
With a capital expansion plan valued at $17.5M for 2014 to 2015, River Point Farms’ new facility underscores the company’s commitment to provide a high quality product with an unparalleled level of service to its contract clients. The new facility will feature best in class equipment that the company has strategically vetted over the last two years in preparation for its doubling of production and shipping capacity in the next twelve months. 
“As we nurture our current customers and prepare for growth, seamless execution in packaging and shipping facilities is paramount to our success,” said Bob Hale, chief executive officer of River Point Farms. “The new packaging facility provides us with an opportunity to fully automate our whole onion sorting and packaging process with a high level of accuracy and efficiency and also allows us to convert our current packing facility into a state of the art, shipping facility.” 
River Point Farms’ long history of providing outstanding product quality, service and volume capabilities have strengthened the company and its ability to invest in this project. The new facility allows for amplification of capabilities and improvements in partnerships with customers as a single-source, year-round supplier of farm fresh onions.
During construction, River Point Farms will continue to operate out of their current facility until the day of the transition. The company will continue their guarantee to deliver top quality onions at contract price and volume. The project is estimated to be completed by end of July 2015.
Source: Fresh Plaza 02 December 2014