Earthbound Farms LLC has broken ground on a new, 120,000-square-foot warehouse, the first of a number of phases of a gradual expansion over the next five years that the company hopes will improve its logistics as well as support its employees.
This first phase of the expansion, due to be completed in December or January, will also include creating a new section of San Justo Road that will run along the company’s property line and improve efficiency, according to Gray Thomas, Earthbound’s senior vice president, Integrated Supply Chain.
“This is a huge first step for us,” Thomas added, stating that the first phase will improve accessibility and efficiency of the company’s current site as well as improve work areas for employees and set the company up for future expansion. Other planned projects include improving employee parking as well as the employee health and welfare center which Thomas said will, “separate us from other organic employers in the area.”
In addition, the company has started working with consultants from Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. to create a five-year master plan, or master conditional use permit, to expand its current site and operations.
According to Thomas, the entire series of planned expansion phases is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. Earthbound Farms sells to retail stores, so its products can be found in 75 percent of major supermarkets nationwide. It also offers a limited selection of Earthbound products in its online store.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved the idea of contracting with Kimley-Horn and Associates at Earthbound Farms’ expense during its July 21 meeting. According to county planning officials, these consultants will help Earthbound and county planning officials finalize expansion plans so that the formal approval process can begin. Earthbound will also be responsible for reimbursing the county for staff time dedicated to the project.
Thomas confirmed in an emailed statement that the “…first expansion project — at 120,000 square feet — gives us a little room grow. We haven’t solidified plans for the next phases, but we continue to focus new technologies, improving our work environment and ways to implement additional efficiencies in order to allow us to further leverage our scale.”
Thomas added, “Sales of organic food continue to grow as the food industry is changing significantly. People care more and more about what they eat and who’s producing it and how it’s produced. With our history and heritage, we’re already a leader in this good food revolution and we want to ensure we have the right foundation to enable us to continue to meet growing consumer demand.”
Of San Benito County, Thomas said, “It’s gratifying to be doing our work here in San Benito County, the home of so much organic agriculture, and to be the biggest employer here.”
According to San Benito County Associate Planner Michael Krausie, Earthbound Farms seeks to utilize more of the property it already owns and “expand beyond all past approval” that the county has already given.
In fact, the company submitted a number of permit requests to the county, Krausie added, so the county asked the company to create a single master conditional use permit request that encompassed all of the work they planned to do. Earthbound Farms and the county began creating this plan four months ago, according to Krausie.
The county board of supervisors recently gave its approval for the county to hire consultants to further assist with finalizing the company’s master conditional use permit. Working alongside consultants and county staff, Krausie said he hopes that the finalized expansion plans can be “ready to go” in four to six months.
According to the Board of Supervisors’ July 21 meeting agenda, professionals from Kimley-Horn and Associates will help the county and Earthbound Farms prepare several technical reports, including the project’s: Drainage and Hydrology Report, Phase 1/Phase II Environmental Assessment, Geotechnical Report, Cultural Resources Study, Biological Resources Study, Air Quality. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Study and Noise Study. Supervisors authorized a maximum budget of $89,789 for the consultant’s work, plus a $8,978 contingency amount.
Earthbound Farms is required to reimburse the county for the consultant’s work, as well as pay for time that county staff spent working on the project as well. To this end, the agreement approved by the supervisors on July 21 required Earthbound to provide a $25,000 security deposit as well an additional $15,000 account for reimbursement of project costs.
As part of the expansion plans, Earthbound Farms plans to remove a portion of the current San Justo Road, Krausie added, and pave a new stretch of the road that would align with the edge of their property line and more safely connect to San Juan Highway.
“That’s a good thing,” Krausie said of the road’s realignment since, “the road is fairly impacted at that intersection.”
According to Krausie, other benefits to the county include additional jobs as well as increased tax base.
Earthbound Farms’ current site has been approved by the county as a good use of the land, Krausie said, so the county will work with the company as it creates a feasible expansion plan.
“Stay tuned,” Krausie said, since the final master conditional use permit may be complete in as few as four months.