SECAUCUS, N.J. — Freshpet, Inc. on June 25 held a groundbreaking ceremony for its second fresh pet food production plant at its Freshpet Kitchens campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where dogs fittingly dug the first hole at the site to symbolize the beginning of its construction.

The new facility will add 90,000 sq. ft. of production space and is expected to be up and running in the third quarter of 2020, said Freshpet. As part of the expansion, the company’s other 50,000-sq.-ft. building will be renovated as well.

"The expansion of the Freshpet Kitchens campus reflects our commitment to continually improving the way we make Freshpet – and will help us achieve our goal of changing the way people feed their pets,” said Billy Cyr, CEO of Freshpet. “We believe our pets deserve fresh and natural food just like the other members of our family. This new Kitchen will significantly expand our capacity and enable us to satisfy more pets while simultaneously improving quality, cost and safety."

Freshpet integrated sustainable features into the renovations, including recycling all rainwater and running on 100% wind energy. The company currently operates a zero-waste-to-landfill process, which it will implement at its second facility once it is completed.

The company plans to hire 100 new employees at the start of production at its second facility, then add 100 team members to operate at full capacity, creating 200 total new jobs in the Bethlehem area.

Freshpet presented its first quarter 2019 financial earnings, overall performance and strategies in May 2019.

Read more about pet food processing operations on our Operations page.