The Vernon plant the place Farmer John sizzling canines have been as soon as made will quickly be cranking out thousands and thousands of kilos of meat sticks for a fast-growing Southern California snack meals firm.
It will likely be the second manufacturing facility for Archer, which must develop past its plant in San Bernardino, Chief Government Eugene Kang mentioned.
A part of the Vernon plant that Farmer John left behind in 2023 is being utterly refurbished by Archer and can make use of greater than 200 folks when it opens in September. The Vernon plant addition will price about $30 million.
Archer is taking up what was Farmer John’s processing plant, Kang mentioned, the place Farmer John cooked ham, sausage and sizzling canines.
Farmer John equipped the meat for well-known Dodger Canine at Dodger Stadium for many years, however couldn’t attain a brand new contract settlement with the Dodgers, and it stopped being the stadium’s primary sizzling canine supplier in 2021.
The Vernon facility.
(Pascal Shirley for Archer)
“I don’t know precisely what occurred between them and the Dodgers,” Kang mentioned, however “we’re now the official meat snack of the Dodgers.”
The Dodgers lately signed a multiyear contract with Archer, MLB introduced final month. Archer’s jerky and meat sticks are bought at stadium concession stands, a satisfying growth for Southern California native Kang.
“As a child rising up, the Dodger Canine was ingrained in my childhood and my life,” he mentioned.
He additionally developed a style for jerky whereas stocking cabinets at his household’s comfort shops scattered throughout Southern California’s deserts. As a younger man on a street journey along with his aunt to the Grand Canyon, he fell in love with jerky he sampled from a roadside stand.
Archer CEO and founder Eugene Kang with merchandise.
(Archer)
Kang tracked down the small jerky producer close to San Bernardino and got down to meet the producer, an 80-year-old man named Celestino “Charlie” Mirarchi who was close to retirement. Kang and his aunt purchased Mirarchi’s enterprise in 2011 and used Mirarchi‘s recipe to construct his personal jerky empire.
Archer achieved a breakthrough in 2014 by way of a partnership with Huy Fong Sriracha to create a sriracha-flavored jerky.
The brand new taste caught the eye of some huge retailers together with Kroger and Sprouts, and helped Archer develop its attain, Kang mentioned. Among the many 30,000 shops promoting Archer merchandise in the present day are Costco, Complete Meals Market, Walmart, Goal, Albertsons and 7-Eleven.
Kang mentioned the corporate, which employs practically 200, had a 90% enhance in gross sales final yr, largely fueled by meat sticks, and can soak up practically $500 million in income within the subsequent 18 months.
The brand new Vernon plant will give attention to beef and turkey meat sticks, ultimately working three shifts a day producing 36 million kilos of meat sticks per yr, Kang mentioned.
Most of Archer’s grass-fed beef provide comes from Australia and New Zealand, the corporate mentioned. Archer competes within the premium clean-ingredient, protein-rich and handy snacks meals class.
