Western Foods, LLC, has finalized its next phase of expansion with the completion of its rice flour and ancient grain milling business by opening a new 56,000 square ft. facility located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The new state-of-the-art, dedicated gluten-free, Japanese style mill is now fully operational and was officially awarded ‘SQF Food Safety Certification,’ (formerly SQF Level II) on August 23, 2018.  WF’s new flour mill is located on a 9 acre lot within Jefferson County Industrial Park in the Pine Bluff, Arkansas area with ample room for future growth.

WF’s growth in recent years has enabled this expansion into Arkansas. The Delta Region facility will strengthen WF’s position in the long grain rice flour market. “By opening our second mill in Pine Bluff, we will have an excellent logistical flow to develop new markets in important regions of the United States, (Mid-West; Southwest; Northeast and Southeastern regions),” stated Tom Andringa, vice president of sales and business development.  

Miguel Reyna, WF’s president and chief executive officer added, “We are extremely proud to announce that our new Pine Bluff facility has passed the initial SQF audit with flying colors. We would like to thank our Engineering, Production and Quality Teams for all their hard work and dedication in order to earn this accreditation. The detailed report from SQF is available upon request.  We anticipate the official certificate to be in hand no later than Friday, September 28, 2018.”  WF’s new Delta Region facility, in the central U.S., has an excellent multi-modal transportation system, including two rail lines (Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific), 13 common freight carriers with 5 terminals, and the Port of Pine Bluff, a slack water harbor located on the Arkansas River. Pine Bluff is 38 miles from Little Rock, AR and 137 miles from Memphis, TN.