Home Chef Expands Into California With New Facility
SAN BERNARDINO, CA - Kroger-owned meal kit company Home Chef is expanding into California, and not in a small way. The convenience category player announced it is welcoming a San Bernardino County, California, production facility that will nearly triple the size of its operations.
"Our secret sauce has always been our customer-first approach," said Pat Vihtelic, Home Chef's Founder and CEO. "Everything about our experience is designed with the customer at the center. By keeping our West Coast facility in San Bernardino, we will be able to continue to provide the best possible cooking experience."
With this move, Home Chef will retain more than 300 existing jobs in San Bernardino, with expansion planned to follow the move, according to a press release. The company has been doing business in the city of San Bernardino since 2015, and the San Bernardino County Economic Development Agency actively welcomed the move by facilitating key meetings between Home Chef and its various resource partners to ensure the company could take advantage of a number of incentives. These entities included:
- The city of San Bernardino
- GO-Biz
- The San Bernardino County Workforce Development Agency
"We are proud to call the city of San Bernardino our West Coast home. We look forward to creating more jobs and continuing to make a positive impact on the local community," said Alice Thompson, Home Chef's Chief Operating Officer. "We have an incredible team recruited from the San Bernardino area. Maintaining that team was top of mind as we determined where to expand our West Coast presence."
The county also provided assistance related to Home Chef's site selection efforts while the Economic Development Agency helped to expedite permitting between city and county departments to meet project management milestones associated with the meal kit provider’s expansion. Even the county's Workforce Development Agency is working with Home Chef on numerous workforce initiatives.
"It is even more gratifying when a company is able to build upon its success in our county. We know that our workforce, strategic infrastructure, and attainable lifestyle can make a real difference for companies that are looking to grow and establish a strong West Coast presence. Home Chef is a great employer that now provides our population with the opportunity to work in a leading-edge sector of the fast-growing meal kit delivery industry," said San Bernardino County Deputy Executive Officer of Workforce and Economic Development Reg Javier.
The company stated that its new state-of-the-art space will help accommodate both the e-commerce and retail branches of the business. It seems this is a developing growth strategy we are seeing just the beginning of. As it unfolds further, AndNowUKnow will bring you the latest.
