Maruchan Celebrates Opening of New Line

Maruchan Virginia, Inc., the Japanese-owned ramen noodle manufacturer, today celebrated the grand opening of their most recent plant expansion in a ceremony held at their Chesterfield County facility at 8101 Whitepine Road in the County’s Airport Industrial Park.

The company has expanded their existing plant by 99,000 square feet and will construct an additional 105,000 square feet of warehouse space. Forty new employees have been hired as a result of the expansion. Former Governor George Allen, who had met with the parent company in Japan while serving as Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, was a special guest and made remarks at today’s ceremony.

The company manufactures 20 different flavors of Maruchan Ramen noodles and 22 flavors of Maruchan Instant Lunch. Though the company produces product for worldwide distribution, some of the product from this most recent expansion will be exported to Russia. Local customers include Ukrop’s Supermarkets, Hannaford Brothers, Rack & Sack, Food Lion, Walmart and Costco Warehouse.

According to N. Kaneshige, plant manager of the Chesterfield facility, “We started our noodle operation here in Chesterfield County in 1990. Since that time we have experienced growth in our sales that far exceeded our expectations. Fortunately, our production has been able to meet the increased sales demand, however, our achievement was only made possible with the assistance and cooperation we have received from both the state and local government offices.”

Maruchan Virginia, Inc. is a subsidiary of Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd and located in Chesterfield in 1989. They purchased 23.5 acres in the Chesterfield Airport Industrial Park, constructed a 160,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant with two production lines and hired 50 employees. By 1992, the company was utilizing four production lines, had hired an additional 100 employees and completed the construction of an additional 100,000 square feet of warehouse space. The cumulative total space constructed, including this announcement, is in excess of 460,000 square feet. The plant payroll has grown from the original 50 employees in 1989 to nearly 300 people today.