Brownsville manufacturer’s $117M expansion delayed after ‘supply chain challenges’

Brownsville city commissioners approved changes to a tax incentive agreement with a food manufacturer earlier this month after delays pushed the company’s $117 million expansion project behind schedule.

When Buffalo, New York-based Rich Corp. inked the economic incentive deal with the city three years ago, the company expected it would double the size of its local manufacturing operation — initially estimated to be a $116.5 million investment. 

Rich Corp., a food manufacturer best known for its non-dairy whipped topping, proposed adding 159,000 square feet of production, freezer, dry storage, and facility space on a nearly 15-acre lot at the intersection of Highway 4 and East 14th Street in Brownsville. 

The investment was expected to create at least 58 new jobs. 

“We’ve seen a huge influx in customer demand within our growing seafood and appetizer business, so adding capacity is key for continued growth,” Kevin Spratt, president of Rich Product U.S./Canada region, said in a news release at the time. 

Rich Corp. financed the expansion in part with a $17.5 million influx from Los Angeles-based SDS Capital Group through New Markets Tax Credits, a program that incentivizes the private sector to invest in low-income communities. Rich Corp. also promised workforce training such as computer literacy courses in collaboration with Texas Southmost College. 

The two-part expansion was supposed to include a frozen warehouse and a larger facility to manufacture more seafood and appetizer products. 

The expansion was slated to create 130 jobs  — 70% of which would be “filled by members of Brownsville’s marginalized communities.” 

In exchange, the city agreed to grant the company 60% of the increase in its real and personal property taxes — which includes new land acquired and value of manufacturing equipment inside a new warehouse — each year between 2025 and 2034. If the company does not hire 58 new employees during that timeframe, the city can penalize the business’ incentive deal. 

The company also agreed to chip in $5,000 toward the Southmost Nature Trail along its property, which connects it to the Battlefield Trail — both of which are open to the public. 

But Rich Corp. officials instead asked city leaders in a recent letter to amend its incentive agreement to start the deal in 2026 instead of 2025. 

“We are requesting this change to the benefit term due to unanticipated project delays in construction and equipment installation,” Rey Esquibel, Brownsville plant manager for Rich Corp., said in the letter. “These delays were caused primarily by inclement weather conditions and material supply chain delays. Due to construction delays, hiring for the 58 new full-time positions at the plant was delayed until late 2025.” 

In 2022, the company had 376 full-time employees and expected to hire 74 more employees under its prior expansion plan. By late 2025, the plant had 481 workers and was “actively trying to fill” 78 jobs at the site. That means the company has 51 more workers than when the economic incentive deal was originally negotiated — falling short of the 58 jobs promised so far. 

Rich Corp. is currently hiring for automation specialists, operators, sanitation specialists, utility associates, forklift operators, general laborers, a production team leader, freezer warehouse team leader, industrial electrician tech, machine operators, and a dry warehouse team lead, among other positions, according to its website. Most of them require basic computer skills, the ability to lift up to 50 pounds and a high school diploma or GED. Pay was not disclosed. 

By the end of this year, the company expects to complete its new 160,000-square-foot refrigerated and dry warehouse space. It has already spent $115 million on the project and expects to spend $2 million more by the end of the year. 

Brownsville commissioners approved the renegotiated deal unanimously, without comment, and as a consent agenda item, during their March 2 city commission meeting. 

“Like many large-scale projects across the industry, this investment has been impacted by periods of severe weather and broader supply chain challenges, resulting in some unanticipated timing adjustments,” a company representative told the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal when asked about the project changes. “We remain deeply committed to Brownsville and value our long-standing partnership with the city.”