Simmons Foods has announced a $100 million expansion of the prepared foods plant in Van Buren, AR. Current capacity is 50,000 tons of fully cooked products annually and the 65,000 square foot expansion with two automated production and packaging lines will double output.  Anticipated operation is for the first quarter of 2023.

Simmons Foods will eventually have three production facilities, a human resource center and a care clinic in the River Valley area.  The expansion will add 100 employees to the existing 600 full-time workforce but these positions will require higher skills supporting robotics and automation.