NEWS BRIEF: A Global Leader in French Pastries and Breads Will Spend $220 Million to Build a New Manufacturing Plant in Brigham City, Utah

Bridor, a leading manufacturer of premium frozen bakery products, will soon spend upward of $220 million to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Brigham City, Utah.

According to the company press release, "Construction of the new (Bridor) factory will start in fall 2024 ... (with) production (beginning) in January 2026."

Quebec, Canada-based Bridor was founded in 1988 and is a subsidiary of Rennes, France-based Groupe Le Duff. 

Through its Brigham City plant, Bridor expects it will produce "... a large range of artisan breads and Viennese pastries tailored for the American market and adapted to Western customer preferences."

Although the news release says the firm expects it will initially begin with a staff of ~150 in Brigham City in 2026, over time the firm anticipates

"(its Utah-based staff will expand to) 300 in the long-term, shared between operators, bakers, engineers, supervisors, mechanics and quality controllers who reside in the Brigham City area."

According to Brigham City Mayor DJ Bott, "(Bridor is offering) really high paying jobs for our area, and that excites us because we don't have to worry about trying to get people to move up here to fill those jobs."

The anticipated Brigham City factory will be Bridor's second such facility in the United States, the other being in Vineland, New Jersey.

Although Bridor has not yet publicly released other details about its plans for the Brigham City facility, we do know that its Vineland plant was opened in 2002 with a footprint of over 142,000-square-feet.

It was then expanded by an additional 47,000-square-feet in 2019 as it launched a new pastry line that year.

Given the size of its Vineland, New Jersey and Canadian manufacturing facilities, I anticipate that Bridor's Utah plant will clock-in at somewhere between 150,000- to 200,000-square-feet when it opens in early 2026.

{AUTHOR'S NOTE: If Bridor holds true to the approach taken by many other food manufacturers, it will (hopefully) open a company store at its new Brigham City facility and sell its products on-site to local citizens. Yum!}