ROSENBERG, Texas – The Frito-Lay snack factory in Fort Bend County, already the largest snack manufacturing plant in Texas, is expanding with a $200 million addition.
The expansion will increase production capacity for tortilla chips, Funyuns and other snacks, allowing the plant to produce more product at faster rates. Funyuns are described by Frito-Lay as a crunchy, zesty onion-flavored snack that offers a distinct eating experience.
The major investment in the Rosenberg facility, located in Houston’s southwestern suburbs, is expected to create 160 new jobs, according to the Fort Bend Economic Development Council.
117 Million Pounds of Snacks Produced Annually
The Rosenberg plant currently employs more than 750 full-time plant and fleet associates and produces over 117 million pounds of snacks each year.
“We’ve called Rosenberg home for nearly 40 years. Throughout that time, the support of Fort Bend County has helped us invest in the right areas so that we can continue to grow and provide jobs to the community,” said Laura Maxwell, senior vice president of supply chain, PepsiCo Foods North America. “The Rosenberg site has the largest footprint of any Frito-Lay facility in Texas, producing snacks for Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas and Georgia, and several other parts of the country during peak demand. We thank Fort Bend County for bringing investments like this to life.”
Follows New Cheetos Production Expansion
This marks the second significant investment Frito-Lay has made at the Rosenberg site since 2019. That prior $138 million investment added a new Cheetos production line, upgraded seasoning and packaging equipment, and expanded warehouse capacity, with work completing in late 2021.
“Frito-Lay has been a long-time partner in Fort Bend County, coming to Rosenberg in 1982 with about 100 employees,” said Vincent M. Morales, Jr., Fort Bend County commissioner, Precinct One. “They have expanded in Rosenberg over the years, choosing to grow their footprint in our community, and now have more than 700 employees — and that number will go up with this latest expansion. They are active corporate citizens and one of our larger employers. We are proud of our partnership with Frito-Lay and thank them for their investment in Fort Bend.”
Frito-Lay, a PepsiCo company, also partners with Feed the Children. During the 2020–2021 school year, the program supported five Houston-area high schools by supplementing 33,000 meals and providing monthly deliveries of items such as school supplies, snacks, books, hand sanitizer and personal care products.
PepsiCo’s brands are consumed more than one billion times a day in over 200 countries and territories. In 2020, PepsiCo reported more than $70 billion in net revenue, driven by a diverse food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream.
In part, the Frito-Lay expansion helps Fort Bend County offset the recent loss of the Minute Maid corporate headquarters in Sugar Land. Minute Maid, a Coca-Cola brand with offices in the Houston area since 1967, relocated its headquarters to Atlanta. The company’s former office space — approximately 41,114 square feet in Sugar Land Town Square — is available for sublease through JLL.
June 9, 2021 Realty News Report. Copyright 2021.
For more about Texas real estate, see the book Houston 2020: America’s Boom Town — An Extreme Close Up by Ralph Bivins.
Image: Courtesy Frito-Lay
File: Frito Chip Plant Expands
File: PepsiCo, Frito-Lay. Rosenberg. Frito Chip Plant Expands. Minute Maid.