Food and beverage manufacturer SunOpta Inc. offered new details on its plans to open a new plant-based beverages production facility in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area this week. An August 19 announcement said the 285,000-sq-ft plant in Midlothian, TX will be the largest facility in its Plant-Based Foods and Beverages network.

Slated to become operational in 2022, the site is expected to create up to 185 new manufacturing and management jobs. The company said its project is part of broader plans to double its plant-based business over a five-year period.

“This new facility will give our customers added capacity to accelerate growth and will help lower their costs and our costs.  This enhanced footprint will further develop our manufacturing and supply chain advantages to support growth across our business, including oat milk,” said the firm’s chief executive officer, Joe Ennen, in a statement. “The city of Midlothian is the perfect choice for us with a business-friendly local government, a skilled labor force, and a vibrant local community.”

The centralized locale of the planned facility also offers SunOpta some strategic advantages.

“In combination with our plants in California, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, the Texas location creates a competitively advantaged ‘diamond-shaped’ national network,” Ennen said. “As a sustainability-oriented food company, we are excited to share that this new facility is estimated to annually eliminate over 15 million freight miles from our supply chain.”

Ellis County and the city of Midlothian have provided the company with incentives to aid the company, including a Midlothian Economic Development grant and an eight-year tax abatement.

Powder & Bulk Solids reported this April that SunOpta acquired the plant-based WestSoy and Dream beverage brands from natural and organic products firm Hain Celestial Group Inc. in a $33 million deal.