Cornering the Co-Packing Market

Growth is on the agenda for Honeyville Inc. With the opening of its 200,000-sq-ft manufacturing plant in Ogden, Utah, Honeyville is looking to stand out in the co-packing sector by optimizing the production and food safety treatment of its various blended dry mix products with state-of-the-art blending equipment, a proprietary heat treatment system, and diverse packaging lines that meet the needs of both food and beverage manufacturers and consumers.

The family-owned company has come a long way since it was founded by Lowell Sherratt Sr. in the 1950s. Sherratt bought a rundown mill in Parowan, Utah, to crack grain for a feed company in Southern California. He later moved the company to the Honeyville, Utah, using the town’s name as the moniker for his company, Honeyville Grain. Over the years, Honeyville has expanded its lineup of grain-based and bulk products. They include grains and seeds, including wheat, barley, and rice; flours, such as almond, bread, and cake flours; salts; nuts; sweeteners; and dried foods, like legumes and fruits. Today the company produces 140 million units a year for food and beverage manufacturers, retail stores, restaurants, bakeries, and hotels across the United States. It has manufacturing and distribution facilities in California, Utah, and Arizona.

In 2017, Honeyville constructed the new facility in Ogden. It wanted to enhance the processing and packaging of its blended dry mix products to better meet the needs of its co-packing clients and the evolving demands of their consumers. Those stable of products include breakfast and dessert mixes, such as crepe, waffle, cookie, and cake mixes; drink blends, such as cappuccinos, teas, and powdered milk; soup mixes, like cheddar broccoli and split pea; and dried meals, including sweet and sour rice and Parmesan risotto. 

“This facility in Ogden was built with a state-of-the-art mentality and with a deep desire to meet the stringent high food safety standards and manufacturing standards that are required in the industry,” says Richard Larsen, former vice president of product development, who recently retired from Honeyville after 43 years with the company.

“We saw an opportunity for growth in the mix/blend co-packing sector,” says COO Nate Hyde. “It was the area of the marketplace that we could disrupt. We thought it had the highest growth curve and market segment that wasn’t completely serviced.”

Honeyville added a cupping line to accommodate consumer demand for products in single-serve packaging.Photo courtesy of Honeyville Inc.Speedy process

To speed up the blending of the mixed products, Honeyville installed two fluidized paddle blenders from Eirich Machines. The blenders eliminate roll-apart segregation caused by gravity when mixing ingredients of varying density, shape, and size. It achieves this homogenous mix thanks to fluidization, which combines a defined geometry lifting action with a triple-paddle, multizoned rotor turning about 80% faster than a ribbon blender. As result, Honeyville has been able to increase throughput between 30% and 34%, Hyde says.