Diamond Foods to Add 100 Jobs at Wisconsin Facility

Diamond Foods, owner of Kettle Brand chips, is adding 100 new jobs through a $38 million expansion of its processing plant in Beloit, Wisc.

Diamond Foods plans to double the production capacity of the facility, which will grow to 50,000 square feet. The San Francisco-based company said a 13 percent increase in sales of its Kettle Brand chips was the reason for the expansion. In addition to Beloit, Diamond Foods was also considering its headquarters  in Salem, Ore. or an undeveloped site in the Southeast as locations for the expansion.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Diamond Foods will receive $1.25 million in tax credits for the project. Construction is slated to begin next spring and be completed by early 2012.

Diamond Foods was founded as a walnut company in 1912 and went public in 2005.