South Carolina noodle company will invest $100M in expansion

June 28, 2023 | SC Biz News

A noodle company based in Saluda plans to invest $100 million over the next five years for new facilities and a new solar power infrastructure.

Palmetto Gourmet Foods, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Borealis Food, is making the investment to help meet a growing demand for its products, according to a news release.

The investment will fund construction of new factories, including a dedicated gluten-free ramen facility the launch of new gluten-free meals and high-protein snacks and construction of a solar power plant with the goal of powering the company’s facilities completely with renewable energy.

“We are pleased to announce the next phase in growing our successful food technology company, which will expand our ability to meet a critical need for many people in the U.S. and around the world –access to nutritious, high-protein meals at an affordable price,” said Palmetto Gourmet Foods co-founder and CEO Reza Soltanzadeh. “We are pleased to fulfill this mission while at the same time creating facilities that are highly sustainable.”

Palmetto Gourmet Foods, headquartered in Saluda, S.C., has grown from a start-up in 2019 to approximately 300 employees today in its 220,000-square-foot plant. It expects to hire another 700 by 2028. The company’s products include the Ramen Express and Chef Woo brands.

In addition to the new gluten-free product factory, Palmetto Gourmet Foods will expand its Ramen Express and Chef Woo product lines at its existing facility, scaling production from the current capacity of 600 million meals per year to more than one billion meals annually.

“A key part of Palmetto’s success stems from the collaborative relationships that it has with key U.S. retailers like Walmart, who share a commitment to sustainable innovation, and U.S.-based manufacturing,” said Soltanzadeh. “The collaborations continue as we further expand our range of plant-based, high-protein, low-cost ramen sustainably sourced and made in the U.S.”

Palmetto Gourmet Foods’ facility is expected to be powered by a solar plant that is expected to be operational in 2025.

The company’s products are available nationwide in more than 20,000 stores, including Walmart and Costco.