Utz Brands Announces Opening of a New Distribution Center

Recently, Utz Brands announced the launch of the Rice Distribution Center, a brand-new, cutting-edge logistics facility in Hanover, Pennsylvania. After more than 50 years of service with Utz, Michael W. Rice, the grandson of Bill and Salie Utz, recently retired and is honored by the logistics center's name.

“The 650,000 square foot center will serve as the primary logistics hub for inventory storage, consolidation, and distribution for Utz facilities across the US. The center boasts 73 dock doors and 375 trailer parking spots and will utilize advanced warehouse management system functionality. To put the size of this building into context, it could house approximately 11 football fields, 9 Boeing 747s, and 46.8m Utz Cheese Ball “barrels” inside its four walls. Additionally, we estimate that this facility will touch 2.3m pallets of product and 1.1bn pounds of product per year, which amounts to an estimated 18bn snack food servings,” Utz representatives mentioned.

“It’s been an honor to be part of the Utz journey over the last 50 + years. This new logistics center represents the Company’s historic values of reinvestment, growth, hard work, and putting our customers first. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and I know this facility will help drive even greater success in the future,” Michael W. Rice said.

“Our new logistics center reflects our commitment to operational excellence and growth. The facility expands capacity, enhances efficiency, and streamlines operations for our customers, and we are proud to honor Mike Rice’s extraordinary legacy through it. A sincere thanks to the state of Pennsylvania and our many local agencies for their help and support in bringing this vision to life in a way that alleviates traffic flow and congestion in our community,” Howard Friedman, CEO of Utz Brands, concluded.