Archer to open second facility for meat snacks
The manufacturing facility is exclusively dedicated to meat stick production.
Eugene Kang, founder and CEO of Archer. Photo courtesy of Archer
Meat snack brand Archer plans to open a second manufacturing facility in Los Angeles, an expansion designed to fuel continued growth and create local jobs. Located in Vernon, CA, the dedicated facility will position the company to scale quickly amid surging demand, it says.
“The explosive growth of our meat stick products made increasing our production capabilities essential, and doing this in Los Angeles was an intentional choice,” says Eugene Kang, founder and CEO of Archer. “Our founding principle has always been that supply chain ownership is crucial for maximizing margins and ensuring quality control, as evidenced by our jerky business. This expansion represents our next strategic step to vertically integrate our fastest growing product line.”
The need for additional production capacity comes as Archer’s 90% year-over-year sales increase outpaced the category's 5.8% growth, according to SPINS 2024 data. The company has seen strong performance across its product portfolio, particularly in meat sticks. Archer's meat stick sales grew by 187.4%.
The new facility will nearly double Archer’s overall manufacturing capacity and will be primarily focused on producing Archer’s lineup of meat sticks. This will improve the company’s flexibility and speed to market as well as provide synergies for training and development with Archer’s existing facility located in San Bernardino, CA, Archer says. The Vernon plant will exclusively produce meat sticks, while the San Bernardino plant will continue to produce both jerky and meat sticks.
Purpose-built for meat processing and previously operated by Farmer John for 90 years, the Vernon facility is nearly 140,000-sq.-ft. and capable of both processing and packaging. It is slated to be fully operational in early September.
Archer expects to add more than 200 jobs at the Vernon facility, with initial hiring and onboarding to begin in summer 2025.
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