Kikkoman Foods acquires 100-acre site in Jefferson for a $560 million factory

Kikkoman Foods, a Japanese soy sauce company with strong ties to southern Wisconsin, has acquired a 100-acre site in the City of Jefferson to build a $560 million factory expected to create around 90 jobs.

Public documents filed in Jefferson County showed that Kikkoman, based in Walworth, purchased the $3 million site from the county and will be the anchor tenant of a new Food and Beverage Innovation Campus on Industrial Avenue.

The first phase of the Kikkoman project calls for 200,000 square feet of office, production and warehouse space, creating 50 full-time jobs. A second phase would add 100,000 square feet and 40 more jobs.

Kikkoman has a plant in Walworth, about 40 miles south of Jefferson. In January, the company announced plans to build a second plant in Wisconsin but didn’t name the city.

“This will enable us to establish a supply-chain with increased stability in North America, our Group’s largest overseas market,” Japan-based Kikkoman Group said at the time.

The company said it will introduce new technologies aimed at efficiencies and labor productivity.

"In addition to meeting the increasing demand for soy sauce in the North American market, with this new construction we are aiming for a sustainable, next-generation production plant," the company said.

Kikkoman could not be reached for comment but earlier said the investment would be approximately $560 million over 10 years. City officials confirmed the plans Monday.

Jefferson County officials said they had evaluated the development potential of the site since 1994, withrecent considerations in 2018. After engaging with various stakeholders, including University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the concept of the Food and Beverage Innovation Campus emerged.

Kikkoman is one of the world's largest soy sauce companies. Its Walworth plant, opened in 1973, was one of the first Japanese-owned manufacturing operations in the United States. The company also has a plant in Folsom, California.

Jefferson is five miles south of Interstate 94 between Madison and Milwaukee. Its industrial park is home to more than a dozen companies including Generac, Nestle Purina PetCare, and Remis Power Systems.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kikkoman acquires 100-acre site in Jefferson for a soy sauce factory