Ben E. Keith Foods Breaks Ground for Houston Facility
Date: March 22, 2011
Ben E. Keith Foods, the eighth largest institutional foodservice distributor in the nation, based in Fort Worth, Texas, broke ground today for its 475,000 sq ft distribution center on 82 acres in Missouri City, located in the southwestern Houston Metro area. Expected completion date for the facility is late 2012 or early 2013.
Robbie Fish, General Manager for the Houston Division welcomed the crowd of 340 well wishers and local officials. “We’ve been delivering groceries and building relationships in this area for twenty years, and now we will have a home. The favorite saying of our founder, Ben E. Keith, was ‘Pioneering is eternal’, and we live by his words today. This warehouse will be the very first foodservice distribution center in the country using a double deep automated storage and retrieval system, providing high density storage and ergonomically convenient putaway and selection capabilities for our employees,” he said.
Green building initiatives are being utilized with the goal of achieving LEEDS Gold status for the division offices.
Ben E. Keith Foods President, Mike Roach, said, “We are here today to break ground on a facility that is the culmination of the efforts of a vast number of folks. Our thanks go out to each and every one. We look forward with great anticipation to the day when we can service our current and future customers from this new facility.”
Both Missouri City Mayor, Allen Owen, and Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council President Jeff Wiley lauded the project as a great benefit for the city and county in terms of the estimated 300 jobs for local residents as well as the significant increase to the tax base.
After the traditional turning of the dirt, lunch was served by Demeris BBQ Catering.