New Pet Food Manufacturing Facility in Kansas Planned

DSM, a global health and nutrition company and part of DSM-Firmenich, announced that it plans to build a next-generation nutritional premix plant in Tonganoxie, KS, creating 28 jobs, the Kansas Department of Commerce shared.

The new location will supply the pet food industry with high-quality nutritional premixes for use in branded pet food products worldwide. The facility is expected to break ground in July 2023 and be fully operational by early 2025.

“The pet food industry has been looking for a better source for the highest quality, traceable and reliable nutritional ingredients for their products, and we are thrilled to be able to deliver for the industry and for ‘pet parents’ with this new facility in Tonganoxie,” said DSM Co-CEO, Dimitri de Vreeze. “We appreciate the support of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, the Kansas Department of Commerce, the Leavenworth County Development Corporation, the City of Tonganoxie, Evergy, and the Animal Health Corridor in making this state-of-the-art facility a reality.”

“DSM is a welcome addition to Kansas and the Animal Health Corridor,” said Kansas Governor Laura Kelly. “Having another industry leader locate here further enhances the globally recognized animal health ecosystem that is anchored in Kansas.”

The facility will be strategically located in the KC Animal Health Corridor, close to many of the industry-leading pet food manufacturers, reducing supply chain risk and logistics expense.

“We’re excited to learn more about DSM becoming a new corporate neighbor in our community,” said Tonganoxie Mayor David Frese. “This is another smart growth opportunity to continue building our future with high-quality jobs and sustainable development.”

The Kansas facility will feature precision micro-batching capability, allowing for precise automated micro-addition of numerous ingredients to premixes in a fully traceable manner. This will support the use of a broader range of DSM and third-party ingredients, allowing the company to create more inclusive and unique premix offerings to meet the evolving needs of the pet food industry and creating peace of mind to customers in regard to quality, safety and reliability.

The increased process automation of the state-of-the-art plant will allow for greater traceability, accuracy, and automated weight verification, as each batch moves in its own containerized transport system in an automated manner through the facility. This will allow DSM to provide the speed and accuracy in high demand by customers in the pet food industry.

“As the highest concentration of animal health assets in the world, the Kansas City region is home to a robust industry network, as well as abundant manufacturing and distribution resources,” said Kimberly Young, president of the KC Animal Health Corridor. “The region continues to attract top companies in the industry, and we’re proud that DSM has selected the Corridor for this state-of-the-art, innovative new facility.”

In addition to meeting all food safety requirements and exceeding current standards for pet food production, the facility is designed in a sustainable manner. The plant’s automated mixing vessels will reduce waste by decreasing flushes necessary for sequencing and will operate on 100% renewable electricity, consistent with all DSM facilities in North America.