Ferrero opens Bloomington chocolate-processing facility

Ferrero’s Bloomington campus adds chocolate processing while a separate Kinder Bueno production project remains scheduled for later in 2024.

Chocolate processing added to Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON, Illinois — Ferrero North America opened its chocolate-processing facility on May 7, 2024. The 70,000-square-foot expansion at 2501 Beich Road is the group’s first chocolate-processing plant in North America and its third globally. The new operation produces chocolate for brands including:

Kinder and Ferrero Rocher.
Butterfinger and CRUNCH.

The existing Bloomington campus also manufactures CRUNCH, 100 Grand and Raisinets. Ferrero North America President and Chief Business Officer Alanna Cotton identified the new processing capability as part of the company’s regional growth plans. Ferrero’s Illinois operations include Butterfinger and Baby Ruth production in Franklin Park, Keebler manufacturing in Chicago, and the Chicago Innovation Center and R&D Labs opened in 2023.

Ferrero company identity

Earlier investment and construction milestones

Ferrero broke ground on the processing facility on October 13, 2021. The announcement put the project’s investment at $75 million and projected up to 50 new jobs. The planned expansion covered 70,000 square feet of the existing Beich Road manufacturing centre. At that time, the company expected the facility to open in spring 2023; the opening ceremony took place in May 2024.

Ghafari Associates supplied architectural and engineering design services for the project’s bid documents, with technical support and construction supervision also included in its role. The Austin Company served as the design-build partner responsible for engineering and construction. Ferrero’s other regional investments included expansion of its New Jersey headquarters, distribution centres in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia, and development of its Franklin Park and Bloomington facilities. Its North American network also included a cocoa-processing plant in Brantford, Ontario.

Kinder Bueno remains a separate campus project

Ferrero broke ground on the Kinder Bueno production facility in Bloomington on November 2, 2022. That investment was announced at $214.4 million, with 200 additional jobs planned and 169,000 square feet to be added to the manufacturing campus. The facility was scheduled to open in 2024. Its product-manufacturing role was separate from the chocolate-processing expansion opened in May.

Kinder Bueno entered the North American market in 2019. Ferrero described the new production facility as supporting the brand’s regional growth and as its first North American Kinder manufacturing project. Alanna Cotton linked investment in local manufacturing capabilities to the company’s innovation plans. Ghafari Associates and The Austin Company also held design and construction responsibilities for this separate expansion. The announcement identified an additional Chicago innovation centre, with R&D laboratories and offices for cookies, cones and crusts teams, as another planned regional investment.