VISTA, Calif., U.S. — NuZee, Inc. has announced a significant corporate expansion involving its current facilities in Vista, California and a new facility in Plano, Texas. NuZee has undertaken this expansion to support the growth of its pour over co-packing services, which is being driven by the receipt of large co-packing orders from new and existing customers, as well as increasing levels of interest from regional, national and global food and beverage companies.
“We are accelerating our corporate re-positioning towards co-packing and private labeling single serve pour over coffee for regional and global brands,” said Masa Higashida, NuZee’s Chief Executive Officer. “We have commenced private label one cup pour over coffee packet production and packaging for a large global brand. We are also in various stages of negotiation with several other large regional and global brands, which we expect will help drive the continuing growth of our co-packing business.”
“This added capacity, once completed, will broaden our geographic presence and allow us to better serve current and future clients in a more efficient and cost-effective manner,” said Travis Gorney, President and COO of NuZee.
NuZee has entered into a lease agreement on 16,603 square-foot facility in Plano, Texas where it plans to create a new single serve pour over co-packing hub. The Plano facility provides several strategic advantages, including more favorable logistics given its central US location, lower cost structure, and ultimately greater economies of scale as production ramps up. At peak production, the Company plans to employ over 30 people at its Plano facility.
The Company has been granted immediate access to the Plano facility and will commence paying monthly rent on July 1, 2019. The Plano facility must achieve Level 2 Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification from the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) before it can commence co-packing activity. NuZee will prepare the Plano facility for the necessary food safety auditing process conducted by SQFI and expects to be fully operational with the appropriate certifications by the end of 2019.
NuZee has also signed agreements that add more than 3,200 square feet of production capacity at its headquarters in Vista, California, expanding this facility to 6,751 square feet. NuZee will add two new co-packing machines, upgrade process automation, and expand warehouse space at its Vista facility. These enhancements are expected to allow for an approximate 50% growth in production capacity and will be able to meet expected Drip Cup production demand until the Plano facility is operational. The expansion and associated infrastructure implementation should be completed over the next few months.
NuZee’s Vista facility is the only currently operating and certified Drip Cup manufacturing and co-packing facility in the United States. In 2018, NuZee’s Vista facility received Level 2 SQF Certification. The facility is also Fair Trade, Organic, Halal, and Kosher certified.
Pour over coffee, known as the Drip Cup in Japan, is one of the most popular methods of enjoying coffee in that country where more than 2.5 billion cups are consumed each year. Each pour over packet comes sealed in a single-serve, nitrogen-flushed package. Simply pass hot water over the ground coffee contained in the specially-designed, perforated pouch for delicious coffee anywhere, anytime. The pour over method requires no machinery (just hot water) and creates minimal waste.
