Bel Brands USA Begins Hiring First Wave of Production Employees for Brookings, South Dakota Plant
(PRWEB) December 11, 2013 -- Bel Brands USA, makers of Mini Babybel® and The Laughing Cow® cheese wedges, has begun recruiting for the first wave of production jobs for its new Mini Babybel production facility in Brookings, South Dakota. The Company aims to hire 33 employees in January 2014 for skilled manufacturing and warehousing positions, followed by additional waves of employees in subsequent months. In total, Bel expects to have more than 275 full-time employees on staff by September 2014.
All open jobs will be posted on the company’s website at http://www.belbrandsusa.com in the "Careers" section. Bel Brands USA is working with the South Dakota Department of Labor and will be conducting interviews from January 6 – January 17, 2014, to fill the first wave of jobs. Bel Brands USA provides competitive wages and generous health and wellness benefits.
Over the past year, Bel has hired 28 employees for managerial and supervisory positions, most of whom have begun in the past few months. Several of Bel’s new employees have returned to the Brookings area from out of state and a number are graduates of nearby South Dakota State University.
Bel is investing more than $150 million in the new Brookings facility. The Company broke ground in July 2012 on the 170,000 square-foot Mini Babybel manufacturing facility on a 48-acre site along 32nd Avenue near the I-29 corridor in Brookings. Completion of the facility is on track and product testing will begin in March 2014. Commercial production will begin in early July and will ramp up throughout the year with a final goal to produce 24 million pounds. That equates to approximately 1.5 million Mini Babybel cheeses per day. The plant will operate 24/7 year-round.
U.S. sales of Mini Babybel are up nearly 25 percent over prior year. The U.S. is the number one market for sales of Mini Babybel for parent company Bel Group. To meet the current demand, the Company currently imports from France more than 50 percent of the Mini Babybel cheese sold in the U.S. Along with Mini Babybel production from its Leitchfield, Kentucky, plant, which also produces The Laughing Cow wedges, the new Brookings plant will enable Bel Brands USA to reduce the amount of imported product.
About Bel Brands
Bel Brands USA, Inc. is headquartered in Chicago and manufactures and markets branded cheeses, including The Laughing Cow® cheese wedges and Mini Babybel® – America’s #1 branded snacking cheese; as well as Boursin®, Kaukauna®, WisPride®, Merkts®, Owls Nest®, and Price*s® natural and gourmet cheese spreads. The mission of Bel Brands USA is: “To delight people with a great tasting, unique cheese experience that fits their lifestyle.” Bel Brands USA is proud to be recognized from 2009-2013 as one of “Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For™” by the National Association of Business Resources and as a 2013 Gold “Fit-Friendly Workplace” by the American Heart Association. Bel Brands USA is a subsidiary of Paris-based Fromageries Bel, a world leader in branded cheeses.
Visit http://www.belbrandsusa.com and follow the company on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @belbrandsusa for more information and updates on job openings.
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Kimberly Mulcahy, Bel Brands USA, http://www.belbrandsusa.com, +1 (312) 267-1840, [email protected]
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