Sioux Falls facility takes shape as CJ Schwan’s builds for the future

A major new food manufacturing operation is taking shape in northwest Sioux Falls, with CJ Schwan’s moving toward the opening of a nearly 400,000-square-foot production facility in Foundation Park in 2027.

CJ Schwan’s is a leading U.S.-based food company with trusted brands like Red Baron® pizza, bibigo™ and Edwards® desserts. The $550 million project represents one of the largest single private investments in South Dakota history and is designed to establish Sioux Falls as an important production center for the company’s growing portfolio of Asian-style foods. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ approximately 650 people in positions spanning production, engineering, maintenance, automation and other skilled manufacturing roles.

The plant will produce egg rolls and dumplings for customers throughout the country. Inside, employees will work with advanced manufacturing technology and highly automated production systems designed to support both efficiency and the scale required to serve a national customer base.

Construction is well underway, with more than 600,000 hours of labor already going into the project. Teams are now installing and preparing the equipment that will make the facility a working food production operation.

Major portions of the dumpling and egg roll production lines are being assembled. Equipment includes the fryer for the egg roll line, the steamer for dumplings and large industrial freezers. Utility work is progressing, with additional work scheduled this fall.

Construction on the project should be largely completed by year’s end. The focus will then shift to commissioning, testing and preparing the production equipment for operation.

That transition will require a different kind of workforce and expertise. CJ Schwan’s is already recruiting for the careers that will eventually support the facility, including positions involving automation, maintenance, engineering and production.

The company is also working with area technical education partners to help develop the workforce needed for a sophisticated food manufacturing operation. The goal is not simply to fill 650 jobs for the opening, but to build a pipeline of skilled employees who can grow with the operation over time.

The economic impact is already being felt well before the first product comes off the production lines. The project has generated about $90 million in contracts for South Dakota contractors and vendors, creating business opportunities throughout the construction and supplier network.

At the same time, CJ Schwan’s Sioux Falls presence is expanding beyond the future production facility. The company’s downtown office now has more than 20 employees, with that number continuing to grow.

The company is also working to become a vital part of the community for the longer term. Downtown Sioux Falls recently announced that CJ Schwan’s will serve as its signature event season sponsor through 2030. The company has also provided financial support to a number of local events and causes, including a $250,000 commitment to the next five-year Forward Sioux Falls campaign, sponsorship of the Sanford International PGA Champions Tour and full-ride scholarships for technical school students through the Build Dakota Scholarship Program.

Taken together, the office expansion, construction project, workforce recruitment, community involvement and investment in advanced production technology point toward a substantial long-term presence in Sioux Falls.

The immediate milestone is completing construction and bringing the production lines online. The larger objective is establishing a modern manufacturing operation capable of producing food at a national scale while creating hundreds of skilled career opportunities in Sioux Falls.

With the building taking shape and production equipment arriving, the project is moving from the construction phase toward the point when Sioux Falls sees the facility operating as intended: producing food, employing people, supporting the community and driving CJ Schwan’s continued growth from South Dakota.