TONGANOXIE, Kan. — Hill’s Pet Nutrition, one of the largest pet food companies in the world, is opening its newest manufacturing plant in Kansas on Monday.
The new facility will provide over 100 jobs for Kansans. Hill’s leaders said it’s not the most-advanced plant across the company.
The company said it will be able to make even more high-quality pet food, more efficiently, at its third Kansas plant in Tonganoxie.
“With this new facility, Hill’s is using AI to ensure pet food meets quality and safety standards, robots to shuttle ingredients around, and other smart technology to more than double Hill’s wet food production capacity,” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Monday.
The $325 million plant has state-of-the-art technology to reduce the company’s environmental impact and improve production sustainability.
“The sophistication and precision of the Tonganoxie plant will enable greater innovation in our product formulations, and when you marry our industry-leading science with our unrivaled team and the best manufacturing technology, that is an unbeatable combination,” said Noel Wallace, chairman, president and CEO of Colgate-Palmolive, Hill’s parent company.
Company leaders said the plant will have a positive impact on the state and pet owners who buy their food.
“There’s been explosive growth in the pet category here in the U.S. and around the world. More pets — and more people treating their pets as valued members of their family — has led to incredible demand for our Science Diet and Production Diet wet products,” said John Hazlin, president and CEO of Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
Hazlin also announced the company will be supporting Tonganoxie’s first dog park located just a few miles away from the plant.
