Stellar’s Construction of Minnesota Bean Plant Boosts Company’s Manufacturing Speed, Efficiency

FARIBAULT, Minn. (April 18, 2018) — Faribault Foods is recording unprecedented manufacturing efficiencies at its recently expanded campus thanks to a new bean processing facility.

Stellar, a fully integrated firm focused on design, engineering, construction and mechanical services worldwide, designed and built the facility for the canned foods producer known for such brands as Sun Vista, Lucks, Kuner’s and S&W Beans. The 635,000-square-foot facility opened in September 2017 and was part of Faribault Foods’ $100-million campus expansion.

Previously, the food manufacturer’s operations were spread out across town: Its corporate office, main processing facility, can-making operation and storage warehouse were based in multiple locations in the city of Faribault.

Stellar designed and constructed the new building and seamlessly integrated it into Faribault Foods’ centralized campus, which now houses all of its operations. The newly constructed building includes:

● Bean processing and packaging area
● Dry ingredients and packaging materials storage areas
● Finished good storage
● Parts and maintenance area
● Locker rooms and training room
● Cafeteria
● Pilot plant
● Corporate offices

Stellar also provided a range of process engineering services, including process, packaging and automation design for a new process line as well as process, mechanical and electrical design for bulk ingredient handling and sauce systems.

“The new facility is integral to our campus and has allowed us to move to a very efficient and high-speed manufacturing,” said Jim Nelson, Executive Vice President of Innovation & Technology at Faribault Foods. “Stellar designed and constructed a unique and functional space, and we now have room for additional growth opportunities in the future as well.”

Among the unique elements designed into the building are dynamic windows by SageGlass. The corporate office windows are made with electrochromic, self-tinting glass that automatically darkens according to the position of the sun. Also, the facility’s 100-foot-tall tower encloses two hydrostatic cookers that perform in-can sterilization.

Record rainfalls and subzero temperatures created what should have been a three-month delay in the project. Despite these conditions, Stellar made up for two months of lost time by expediting work, installing temporary partition walls and heating the building during construction.

In 2009, Stellar partnered with Faribault Foods’ parent company La Costeña for a warehouse expansion of its Arizona Canning facility in Tucson, Arizona.

About Stellar
Stellar is a fully integrated design, engineering, construction and mechanical services firm serving commercial, industrial and public sector markets across the United States and around the world. More than 750 Stellar employees worldwide create award-winning food processing plants, refrigerated warehouses, distribution centers, commercial buildings and military facilities. In addition to its Jacksonville, Florida, headquarters, Stellar operates nearly 50 support locations and offices throughout the United States, China and in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The company also serves Central and South America, Europe and India. For more information, visit www.stellar.net.