Lamb Weston held a grand opening for its Hermiston “Line 5” plant expansion on Thursday.
Among speakers were Tom Werner, president and chief executive officer, and Rick Martin, senior vice president and global supply chain officer. They noted that the Hermiston expansion was of critical importance in Lamb Weston’s quest to become the No. 1 global potato company.
Two years ago, the company announced an investment to expand operations at its Hermiston processing facility with the construction of a 300 million pound-per-year, state-of-the-art french fry line.
The new Hermiston line is intended to support growth in North America, as well as exports to Asia where demand growth has been, and is expected to remain, strong. The expansion is expected to add approximately 170 full time positions.
“The french fry category has been growing at attractive rates around the world, and we believe industry capacity has been challenged in recent years to keep up with continued growth in market demand,” said Werner at the time. “This investment in a new french fry processing line in the Columbia Basin reflects Lamb Weston’s continued commitment to support our strategic partners as they continue to grow their businesses in North America and abroad.”
Among those thanked for their assistance were the city of Hermiston, Umatilla County, and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden. The company’s corporate engineers, staff and contractors, as well as the Hermiston plant employees, were praised for their contributions.
“They’ve done great job in standing up this operation,” Martin said.
