Hearthside Food Solutions reported it is doubling the nutritional bar capacity at their bar operation in Boise, Idaho.

First acquired in 2015, the 185,000 sq. ft. Boise location, previously a Nestle / Power Bar facility, was one of several strategic acquisitions that have expanded Hearthside’s nutritional bar presence, company officials said. The company also announced the opening of their fourth European nutritional bar production facility on Hearthside’s Leerdam, Netherlands manufacturing and R&D campus.

The high-capacity facility increases Hearthside’s European nutritional bar capacity by over 40%. This facility also leverages Hearthside’s extensive European bar formulation lab and the over 3,000 proprietary nutritional bar recipes in the Hearthside bar catalog. Both the new European production facility and the Boise capacity expansion are now fully staffed and operational.

“We have over 53 food scientists, commercialization and innovation support specialists in our R&D and innovation group. Our continued aggressive investment in R&D, product innovation, recipe development and nutrition innovation has fueled our nutritional bar growth in North America and Europe,” said Rich Scalise, Hearthside Chairman & CEO. “These capacity increases enable us to meet our customers’ ever-increasing nutritional bar volume and formulation needs.”

Hearthside operates 25 full-service production facilities, 13 of which produce bars. The company also operates a network of internal R&D facilities, food labs, test kitchens and pilot lines providing innovation, formulation, concepts, and recipes.

“Performing at World-Class bar production standards sets us apart, but it is only part of the story,” said Dwayne Hughes, Hearthside Senior Vice President, Supply Chain. “Seamlessly melding our R&D, nutrition, formulation, product innovation and commercialization capabilities into our manufacturing processes enables our customers to bring superior products to market faster. We drive quality, innovation, and speed-to-market.”