Schwan’s planning massive Asian food plant and corporate office in Sioux Falls

Schwan’s is planning a massive Asian food plant in South Dakota as the company pursues its South Korean owner’s vision to be the “No. 1 provider of ethnic cuisine in the United States.”

The Bloomington-based company recently bought 142 acres in an industrial park in Sioux Falls where it intends to build a 700,000-square-foot production facility and employ 600 people.

When the project was first proposed in 2021, it had a price tag of about $500 million.

“Our investment in this world-class Asian-style food plant in South Dakota will help us strengthen our position in one of the fastest-growing food categories in the United States,” Schwan’s CEO Brian Schiegg said in a statement.

Schwan’s is also opening a regional office in downtown Sioux Falls that will employ 50 to 100 people.

No timeline was given for construction. When open, the plant will turn out Bibigo brand dumplings and other frozen and shelf-stable products.

“The ability to continue to scale our portfolio of products to meet the growing consumer demand is vitally important to our strategy,” Minsok Pak, CEO of Schwan’s parent company CJ Foods, said in a news release. “This facility will enable us to further accelerate the growth of K-Food and other Asian cuisines.”

South Korea’s CJ CheilJedang in 2019 bought a majority stake in Schwan’s for $1.8 billion.

Schwan’s makes Red Baron and Freschetta pizza, Pagoda egg rolls and a number of other products sold at grocery stores and in restaurants, schools and other food service outlets. The Schwan family still owns the home delivery business, now known as Yelloh.

The sale price for the land was not disclosed, but at the advertised rate of $4 per square foot it may have cost around $24 million. The project will include a new wastewater treatment facility on site to minimize impacts to existing infrastructure in South Dakota’s largest city.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem hailed the investment, which she first highlighted in her State of the State Address in 2021, and said Schwan’s “has recognized the superior business climate that the state offers.”