Champion Petfoods Celebrates Groundbreaking for its Kentucky Kitchen

On Wednesday, July 23, 2014, Champion Petfoods broke ground on its first kitchen in the United States. The new 350,000 s.f. Champion kitchen in Auburn, Ky. is the company’s third and will include both a kitchen and a distribution facility for specialty dog and cat food.

Canadian-based Champion Petfoods chose Kentucky to be in the center of agricultural producers. Champion’s ACANA and ORIJEN brands of Biologically Appropriate™ foods mirror the evolutionary diets of dogs and cats, feature unmatched inclusions of fresh and local ingredients, and are prepared exclusively in the company’s own award-winning kitchens.

In addition to Champion’s leadership team, Logan County officials, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and multiple partners involved in Champion’s new kitchen project attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

With this new kitchen, Champion is hoping to further its BAFRINO mandate of: Biologically Appropriate, Fresh Regional Ingredients, Never Outsourced foods. The kitchen is expected to create more than 147 jobs in Auburn, Ky.

Champion’s new “Made in Kentucky” foods will be available in 2016.

Gray Construction, a nationally ranked engineering, architecture and construction firm, was selected to provide design-build services for Champion’s new kitchen. Gray has more than 54 years of experience in manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, distribution, hospitality and retail facility construction. Currently, Gray has several large projects that are underway or recently completed including: a Michelin Earthmover tire manufacturing plant in Anderson, S.C.; a Caterpillar Inc. manufacturing facility near Athens, Ga</a>.; a Siemens gas turbine plant in Charlotte, N.C.; a Roxul, Inc. manufacturing facility in Byhalia, Miss.; a manufacturing plant for ZF Transmissions in Gray Court, S.C.; an Adena Beef facility in Fort McCoy, Fla.; and a Chelten House processing facility in Las Vegas, Nev.

If you have food and beverage plant construction needs, please contact Phil Seale, Executive Vice President, Manufacturing/Food & Beverage Markets at pseale@gray.com. Or, contact Tyler Cundiff, Senior Manager, Business Development, Food & Beverage Market at tcundiff@gray.com.