White Castle starts work on $27m expansion project at retail food plant

US fast food chain White Castle has broken ground on an expansion project at its retail food manufacturing plant in Vandalia, Ohio.

White Castle is investing $27 million to expand the facility, which supplies packaged sliders to food retailers nationwide.

The project will see the size of the plant double from approximately 75,000 square feet to 150,000 square feet and is expected to be completed by June next year. When the new production lines are fully operational, the facility will employ an additional 75 people, according to White Castle.

White Castle introduced its retail division in 1987 and claims to have been the first fast food restaurant to offer its menu items at grocery stores for preparation at home.

Found in the frozen aisle, White Castle’s retail offerings include the Original Slider, Cheese Sliders, Jalapeño Cheese Sliders and Chicken Breast Sliders.

“Our retail division has been growing steadily over the past ten years, and we saw huge growth last year as people cooked and ate at home more during the pandemic,” said Lisa Ingram, president and CEO of White Castle.

“Having more dedicated space to make more sandwiches will enable us to keep up with the increasing demand for our frozen sliders.”

White Castle has also renamed the site The House That Bill Built, after the company’s former president and CEO Bill Ingram, who was responsible for launching the retail division.

Lisa Ingram continued: “Dad wanted to make sure sliders were available to everyone, even to people who didn’t live in a White Castle market. He played an essential role in getting us where we are today, and it’s so fitting that we honour him this way during our 100th year as a family-owned business.”