Eugene, Ore. — It’s been a long journey, but Yogi Tea has come home.
After four years of planning and more than two years since breaking ground, the longtime leader in Lane County’s food manufacturing industry has moved into its 190,000-square-foot plant and begun ramping up operations.
The $21 million building serves as Yogi’s North American headquarters and, for the first time in five years, consolidates its 120 Lane County employees under one roof. Until now, Yogi Tea’s local operations had been scattered among three locations: a raw materials and packaging warehouse in Coburg, manufacturing plant in Springfield and finished goods warehouse in Eugene.
On Saturday, Yogi Tea held an open house at the 1325 Westec Drive complex for local business, civic and elected leaders, as well as employees and news media.
Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brittany Quick-Warner called Yogi Tea’s expansion great news for the community.
“Their decision to stay in our community and expand illustrates the growth and vibrancy happening within our food and beverage sector regionally,” Quick-Warner said. “Having this manufacturer headquartered here means the addition of good jobs that are more likely to stay in our community in the future.
“A project of this size can generate a significant impact to the economy,” she said, pointing to 2017 economic data from the Oregon Employment Department that estimated the construction project alone would support over 250 jobs and contribute $32 million to the local economy.
Eugene City Councilor Chris Pryor, whose ward is home to the new plant, also touted Yogi’s contribution to the local economy. “As an international distributor of tea products, this is a great addition to our traded sector and a good example of Eugene’s efforts to increase one of our targeted industries,” he said.
The new plant more than doubles Yogi’s combined 84,000 square feet of space, and the company invested $5 million into new equipment that will boost output by 30 percent once its ramp-up is complete around Labor Day.
“Our teams did an incredible job with what we had,” said CEO Giancarlo Marcaccini, who joined the company earlier this year. “Now being under the same roof we will be maximizing our processes and our teams will be working collaboratively as one.”
Getting everybody under that one roof wasn’t easy. Yogi had planned to open the plant in July 2017, but extreme winter weather delayed construction. And the move itself required careful planning and execution, with teams relocating in phases while continuing to meet growing demand for Yogi’s line of nearly 60 wellness teas.
Marcaccini said Yogi’s sales growth has averaged 14 percent over the past three years. And last year the company and its parent East West Tea Co. for the first time sold 1 billion bags of Yogi tea globally, he said. Yogi’s sales reflect a broader trend among U.S. tea drinkers, according to World Tea News, which said in a February article that tea purchases have been shifting to natural and wellness teas, with sales of the latter up 5.8 percent.
Meeting demand
To keep up with demand, Marcaccini said, Yogi has been running three shifts six to seven days a week for the past nine months. “That just takes a toll not being able to have more machines,” he said.
In addition to introducing new equipment, such as two faster tea-packaging machines and additional case packers to avoid bottlenecks, Yogi designed the plant to meet its unique manufacturing needs, serve its employees and reflect its corporate values.
“Just to have that white canvas was very satisfying to the people who know best, which is our operations teams,” Marcaccini said. “You’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we’ve always had so many constraints, and now we can do whatever we like.’ So that was exciting.”
The building’s layout is arranged to maximize efficiency. Yogi’s lab technicians test for safety and quality before ingredients are weighed, mixed and enter the production process.
When operations hit their stride next month, the plant will produce up to 2.6 million tea bags a day, up from 2 million.
