Darlington, an international snack company based in Noblesville, IN, has purchased the Annie’s Homegrown snack and cracker manufacturing plant in Joplin, MO. The plant was purchased from General Mills through Darlington’s manufacturing division, HS Baking. This plant is soon to be home to Darlington’s line of shelf stable snacks including the Darlington, Appleways, and Crave-N-Rave brands.

A new manufacturing line has been built and installed over the last few months for new types of products, enhancing the snack and cracker manufacturing capabilities already present. Darlington has invested several million dollars in the plant for new equipment and renovations to existing equipment and facilities. Manufacturing of a portion of Darlington’s snack lines began in early December.

Darlington is very excited to become part of the Joplin community and the rich heritage of baking which the Junge family started so many years ago. Joplin is Darlington’s flagship bakery location, and we are very excited about all the support we have received from the state, the city, and, most importantly, the community.

The plant currently employs 27 people, and that number is expected to grow in the next 12-24 months.

The bakery is Darlington’s second property acquisition. In 2015, Darlington renovated and opened a state-of-the-art headquarters building in Noblesville, IN focused on product development and design as well as customer presentations.