In a boost to the city’s vibrant agri-food sector, Italian pasta maker Andriani S.P.A. unveiled on Tuesday that it had selected London, Ont. to be the home of its first major production facility in North America.
The plan will involve Andriani, known for its Biori and Felicia pasta brands, constructing a 50,000 sq. ft. facility dedicated to manufacturing allergen and gluten-free pastas, according to a media release issued by the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC).
The facility will be built on a five-acre parcel of land in the city’s Innovation park, located at Bradley Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway, and will initially support 50 jobs. It’s anticipated the plant will be up and running in 12 to 16 months, said Kapil Lakhotia, president of LEDC.
“London has firmly established itself as a leader in food and beverage processing. We now have close to 10,000 people who are employed at over 90 companies within this cluster,” Lakhotia said.
The Innovation Park area is already home to several major food and beverage companies, including Aspire Food Group, Cardiff Products, Dr. Oetker, The Original Cakerie, and soon, Odd Burger. Firms such as AB InBev, Cargill, Maple Leaf Foods, McCormick Canada, and Nestle, also have facilities in the city.
In a statement, Andriani’s chief executive officer, operations, Michele Di Paolo, expressed excitement about the facility, adding that London has “all the right ingredients, supportive city, talent, access to raw materials and a great location to access many different markets.”
London Mayor Josh Morgan, in a statement, called the news “a huge win” for the city and its agri-food sector.
“The fact that Andriani has chosen our city as the future home of its first ever facility in North America is a testament to our industrial land strategy, and just the latest example of our increasingly diverse economy,” he said.
Andriani says it produces more than 40,000 tonnes of allergen and gluten-free pasta every year for more than 30 countries, including Canada. Founded in 2004, the company employs roughly 300 people in Italy, where it’s headquartered in Gravina in Puglia.
“We’ve certainly developed a unique niche and reputation for food and beverage processing. As you can imagine, every industry cluster is prone to economic cycles, but food tends to be very resilient, and historically, that’s proven to be accurate through… various economic cycles,” Lakhotia said.
“We are confident that as we work with Fanshawe and Western and others on developing more food training programs, as long as we have the infrastructure and the skills in this area, more food companies will keep coming.”
For those thinking about applying for the new positions, Lakhotia says more will be known later this year.
“We do two major job fairs throughout the year, one in the spring and one in the fall. I would suspect that in about 8 to 10 months we’ll have more details through those job fairs as Andriani will have a better idea of their projected labour needs,” he said.
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