Premium chocolatier Lindt & Sprungli is planning a multimillion dollar investment to expand manufacturing at the company's Lindt USA headquarters in Stratham, N.H.
The expansion, which is expected to begin this spring and roll out during the next several years, is the second major expansion for Lindt USA in the last decade.
Part of the expansion will include new lines for the popular Lindt HELLO collection, which was launched in June 2013, LINDOR single-serve bars, and EXCELLENCE individually wrapped dark chocolate diamonds, the latest extension to the company's premium dark chocolate collection. The building expansion will also lead to increased storage and distribution capabilities and generate new jobs.
Upon completion of the total expansion efforts, the campus is expected to have more than one million square feet of space for production, storage and distribution, allowing Lindt to continue to produce premium chocolate products from bean to bar at an increased capacity.
The facility in Stratham, N.H. is one of eight Lindt & Sprungli manufacturing sites in the world, and along with the Ghiradelli Chocolate Co. plant in San Leandro, Calif., which is also a subsidiary of Lindt & Sprungli, are the only plants in North America.
Construction will begin at Lindt USA with a 108,000-sq.-ft. addition, nearly doubling the size of the campus' main building. The new manufacturing building will house additional premium chocolate production lines to meet company growth.
"Lindt continues to dominate the premium chocolate segment in the U.S. and the expansion of the manufacturing facility will help Lindt stay at the forefront of the industry and accommodate the growing demands from the market and consumers," says Thomas Linemayr, president and ceo of Lindt USA.
The U.S. chocolate market is the largest in the world and one that continues to grow rapidly. The expansion of the Stratham facility will allow Lindt to meet the rising consumer demands for premium chocolate on both a national and global level, ultimately producing products for the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, China and Australia.
These plans follow the significant Lindt USA expansion from 2006-2010, during which the company added 350,000 sq. ft. of production, packaging and distribution facility space, and a new state-of-the-art cocoa liquor plant to the U.S. facility.
The addition of the multimillion dollar cocoa liquor plant provided Lindt USA with the capability to clean, roast, and grind cocoa beans, and ultimately produce cocoa liquor — a key component in the chocolate production process.
