Carolina Foods, “Duchess”, honey buns are packaged as they travel along the conveyor belt. Carolina Foods is moving to Pineville NC from its Charlotte South End factory after over eight decades in the neighborhood. The new factory will open by 2023.
South End residents who savor the sweet scent of honey buns and other treats made for decades at the Carolina Foods facility need to prepare to say a bitter goodbye.
Carolina Foods announced this week it is leaving Charlotte — its home for the past 88 years — and moving down the road to Pineville.
That’s where it’s building a 423,000-square-foot facility, at 12031 Carolina Logistics Drive. The company — known for its Duchess brand snacks like honey buns and packaged donuts — is partnering with real estate firm Beacon Partners to build the new site.
“The demand for our product exceeds our capacity,” Carolina Foods CEO Dan Myers told The Charlotte Observer Thursday. “At the current location… we’re constrained by the amount of space we have.”
Carolina Foods has been based in Charlotte since its founding in 1934.
The new facility will be twice the size of the current building, and climate controlled, Myers said. Construction will begin this August and production will start by the end of 2023.
The Pineville site will serve as a production facility and warehouse. The space will have 120,000 square feet for warehouse storage, and 40,000 square feet for offices and employee locker rooms and lunch rooms. The remaining 263,000 square feet will be manufacturing space.
Myers declined to say how much the new facility will cost.
The new factory and the South End facility will operate simultaneously through some point in 2024, when the South End building will close.
The changes will not affect Carolina Foods’ employment totals, according to the company, which fluctuate between 300 and 400 workers. Myers said during the period of both factories operating, Carolina Foods will likely bring on around 20% more temporary employees.
A long-planned expansion for Carolina Foods
The expansion is part of Carolina Foods’ partnership with Charlotte-based investor Falfurrias Capital Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in growing middle-market businesses, which also owns Duke’s Mayonnaise.
The Charlotte Observer reported in 2021 that Falfurrias made an undisclosed investment in Carolina Foods, and since then, neither company has shared specific details about their partnership. The move to Pineville is part of the growth plan that began with Falfurrias’ investment, Carolina Foods said.
Even before last year, company executives had their eyes on a new manufacturing location.
In 2014, as the company celebrated its 80th anniversary, then-CFO Katie Scarborough told the Observer a new facility was necessary for the company to realize plans for growth.
Last year, Falfurrias founder Marc Oken told the Observer his firm sees “tremendous growth potential” for Carolina Foods to expand its manufacturing and distribution footprint. The company already distributes its snacks across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico.
The new site being closer to Intestate 485 and Interstate 77 make the logistics of inbound and outbound shipments simpler than the current location, Myers said.
Carolina Foods’ Charlotte roots
Founded in 1934, Carolina Foods began as a sandwich company serving food at textile mills, furniture factories and lunch counters in the Carolinas, according to the company. Its honey buns and other baked goods entered focus after World War II, and in 1992 the company stopped selling sandwiches to prioritize baked goods.
The facility on South Tryon Street is able to produce up to 1 million honey buns a day, the Observer previously reported, but ownership has prioritized a new, larger facility for years.
In 2014, Scarborough told the Observer the company was cognizant of the need for growth, but also wanted to stay in the Charlotte area to retain its workers.
The new Pineville facility is about a 20-minute drive south of the old factory. The new location’s proximity to Charlotte and a nearby light rail station make it easy for employees to commute, Myers said.
“We’re very pleased we were able to find property still in the Charlotte area,” he said. “That was important to us.” Myers said.
Blake Douglas is an intern reporter covering health care, transportation and local government. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in May 2022, and has covered local politics in Oklahoma as an intern reporter for NonDoc Media and the Tulsa World. Connect with Blake on Twitter @Blake_Doug918
