French food and beverage firm to invest $100M in Pasco facility

Monin, a family-owned French food and beverage flavoring company with its U.S. headquarters in Clearwater, plans to buy 70 acres in Pasco County and will invest more than $100 million to build a new production and distribution facility on the site.

The facility, which will be in the 335-acre Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park Ready Site, is expected to create 173 jobs when complete and, according to the Pasco Economic Development Council, to contribute $53.9 million in annual economic output.

Detail on the size and scope of the facility and a construction schedule were not immediately available Tuesday. A Pasco EDC spokesperson says Monin is in the development stage but expects the project to “be a significant size since they plan to manufacture and distribute from it.”

Monin was founded in 1912 in Bourges, France by Georges Monin. The company, which makes flavoring products for food and beverages, has been family-owned for three generations. It has manufacturing facilities South America, North America, Asia and Europe and its products are available in 160 countries.

The company's U.S. headquarters is in Clearwater where, according to its website, it employs about 200 people. Monin's website says the company opened a 115,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sparks, Nevada, in 2020 and a 60,000-square-foot warehouse in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, in 2022.

Greg Grabau, Monin’s CFO, says in a statement that the company looked at 10 sites across four states before settling on Zephyrhills. It chose the location because of the availability of labor, site readiness and the long-term manufacturing potential.

The proximity to its Clearwater facility helped as well, says Grabau, because it provides “a meaningful advantage as we ramp up, allowing both locations to share expertise and best practices.”

“The investment reflects our confidence in this market: in the initial phase alone, we plan to hire over 100 employees and invest more than $111 million, with capacity that supports Monin's growth over the next 10 to 20 years,” he says in the statement.

As for its impact on Pasco, Pasco EDC says in the statement that construction will generate 564 jobs locally and $148.4 million in economic output through 2026. Tax revenues for Pasco will be about $1.09 million during construction and roughly $260,000 each year afterward.

Monin will join another international food manufacturer in Zephyrhills. The Brazilian company Bauducco Foods opened a 160,000-square-foot facility there last month.