VAN BUREN — G&C Food Distributors & Brokers, Inc. (G&C Foods) plans to acquire its Van Buren food-distribution facility, expand and upgrade it, and add 85 employees over the next 18 to 24 months. The facility is located at 3407 Walters Road. G&C Food is a Van Buren–based food service re-distributor of refrigerated, frozen, and […]
VAN BUREN — G&C Food Distributors & Brokers, Inc. (G&C Foods) plans to acquire its Van Buren food-distribution facility, expand and upgrade it, and add 85 employees over the next 18 to 24 months.
The facility is located at 3407 Walters Road.
G&C Food is a Van Buren–based food service re-distributor of refrigerated, frozen, and dry food. It currently leases the 276,000-square-foot warehouse that P&C Foods previously used.
“It’s an $18 million project which includes acquisition, expansion, equipment for manufacturing, and some conversions of existing refrigeration into freezer space,” says Richard (Rich) Chapman, company president.
Chapman spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 15.
He anticipates G&C Foods closing on the acquisition during the first half of 2016 and the manufacturing will likely start up during the second half of the year. The expansion of the dock and the warehouse will happen over the next six to 18 months.
“We don’t really have an exact time frame for that yet,” says Chapman.
The company has been thinking about these moves for the past 12 to 18 months, he adds.
G&C Foods will “self finance” the project, says Chapman, noting the company might also take out some loans.
The company has applied for partial property tax exemptions via a payments in lieu of taxes (or PILOT) agreement through the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, he notes.
Expansion details
G&C Foods plans to acquire the facility, which it has leased since 2010. The firm’s owner plans to purchase it from NIP Owner I, LLC, a Los Angeles, California–based, real-estate company. Dwight (Kip) Palmer of Rochester, who also owns Palmer Food Services of Rochester, owns G&C Food Distributors and Brokers.
G&C started operations in the former P&C facility in February 2011.
“When we moved in here in 2011, we thought this was all the space we would ever need. Fortunately, our business continues to grow at a pretty substantial pace. It’s just time to expand again,” says Chapman.
G&C Foods currently employs about 270 people total, including 217 in the Central New York area, according to Chapman.
The firm also has a location in Rochester, according to its website.
The company plans to add about 50,000 square feet of additional space to the facility.
“We’ll be doubling the size of our current, refrigerated dock,” says Chapman.
G&C Foods is soliciting bids for a prospective general contractor and designer on the project, he adds.
The company, which primarily focuses on food distribution to retailers and wholesalers in 27 states, also plans to add a manufacturing line.
Its Van Buren distribution facility is “broken up” into six different rooms. The firm will use one of those rooms for a new packaging line.
“We’re converting that into a packaging line where we’re going to be packaging frozen fruits and vegetables,” says Chapman.
He called that part of G&C’s business “extremely small” a few years ago. But the company believes packaging can be a “big part” of its operations moving forward.