Riviana Foods, a part of Madrid-based Ebro Foods, the largest producer of rice and the second-biggest producer of pasta in the world, has announced it’s investing $80.6 million to expand and renovate its state-of-the-art processing and packaging plant in Memphis, Tenn. Demolition and construction work are expected to begin during the first quarter of next year, with new production capacity utilization projected to begin in the first quarter of 2024.
The project will add approximately 65,000 sq ft to the plant and will include a renovation of approximately 20,000 sq ft, which will significantly increase the facility’s current production capacity for its Minute rice microwaveable cups and introduce new production capacity for ready-to-serve pouches lines of its Tilda, Carolina, and Mahatma rice brands. The project also will add approximately 80 new full-time jobs.
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“We will be in a stronger position to meet or exceed customer needs of looking for simpler, better and more nutritional food options,” says Enrique Zaragoza, president and CEO of Riviana. “And, we look forward to many more years of our successful partnership between Riviana and the Memphis community with this investment.”
The latest venture is the seventh expansion project at the facility since it opened in 2006. Most recently, in April 2021, Riviana invested $15 million to upgrade the plant’s production and expand instant rice capacity.
The expansion and renovation project will be supported by an 11-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) incentive awarded by the Economic Development Growth Engine Industrial Development Board of the City of Memphis and County of Shelby, Tenn.
