Walmart Building a New Milk Processing Facility in Georgia

Set to open in 2025, the plant will create nearly 400 new jobs and supply milk to more than 750 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the Southeast.

Valdosta, Georgia, October 25, 2023 – Walmart announced plans to build a $350 million-dollar greenfield fluid dairy facility in Georgia which will bolster capacity to meet the demand for high-quality milk, while making Walmart’s supply chain more resilient, and building even more transparency around sourcing.

Dennis Group is assisting with the design and construction of the facility. “We’re honored to be working with the Walmart team on their second dairy facility,” noted Dennis Group Senior Partner, Scott Targos. “This is a significant investment, which will create jobs in Georgia and benefit dairy farmers in the region, as well as consumers throughout the Southeast.”

Using ingredients sourced from local farmers, the new facility will process and bottle a variety of milk options including gallon, half gallon, whole, 2%, 1%, skim and 1% chocolate milk for Walmart’s Great Value and Sam’s Club’s Member’s Mark brands. The products from the facility will serve more than 750 Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs in the Southeast.

Bruce Heckman, Walmart’s vice president of manufacturing, said in a statement that the company wants to do more to ensure its milk supply, saying the company wants to provide “high-quality milk for our customers that we can offer at the everyday low prices they rely on.”

This is the first time Walmart and Dennis Group have partnered together on a project.  “We have a great deal of experience with dairy facilities,” stated Josh Nichols, Dennis Group Project Manager. “Our goal for this project is to deliver a world-class facility that prioritizes food safety, quality, and innovation.” Groundbreaking will occur later this year, and the plant is expected to be operational by 2025.

Dennis Group is a global design-build firm providing integrated design, engineering, procurement, and construction management services exclusively to the food and beverage industry. Ranked the largest food and beverage design firm for nine-years running by Engineering News Record, Dennis Group excels at planning and executing fast-track, complex, large-scale projects for industrial manufacturers. For more information or to learn about career opportunities visit www.dennisgroup.com.