Maruchan Virginia, Inc.

Maruchan Virginia, Inc., the Japanese-owned ramen noodle manufacturer, hasannounced plans to expand their Chesterfield County facility at 8101 Whitepine Road in the County’s Airport Industrial Park. The company will puchase 30 acres adjacent to their current facility for the expansion. Once complete the new space will be used for warehousing; two production lines will then be added in the current warehouse space once it is vacated. It is estimated that 130 new employees will be hired as a result of the expansion. Projected investment in the project will approach $31 million.

“It is obvious from our growth record, since 1989, that our investment in Chesterfield County has been a success. Some of the reasons for this success are the cooperation and support that we have received from Chesterfield County, the State of Virginia, and all of their agencies.” said Kiyoshi Fukagawa, President, Maruchan Virginia Inc. He added, “Even though we will ship our product throughout the United States and Mexico, we are planning to expand here in Chesterfield County because we have developed solid business relationships and have benefited from the local business environment. I hope we can continue to take advantage of this prime location for the benefit of the county and Maruchan.”

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.

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 square feet manufacturing plant with two production lines and hired 50 employees. In 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. By 1998 the company had again expanded to total space constructed in excess of 460,000 square feet and was employing nearly 300 people. With today’s announced expansion the plant will approach 590,000 square feet and employee nearly 430 people when completed.