Matthew Dolan

Detroit Free Press

Kraft Heinz is bringing its premium mustard production to Holland by making all of its well-known Grey Poupon mustard in the state.

State economic development officials said the project will generate $17.2 million in private investment and create 50 jobs in the city. In return, the company is getting a $500,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant and a property tax abatement from the City of Holland.

“Heinz has a long history in the Holland community, providing jobs, supporting local agriculture and industrial businesses, and playing a vital role in west Michigan,” Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO Steve Arwood said in a statement Wednesday. “The decision by Kraft Heinz to expand further will mean even more jobs for area residents for years to come.”

Any incentive of $1 million or less does not need to be approved by the full MEDC board, officials said. Those projects are approved by Arwood, who acts as a delegate of the board.

Kraft Heinz came about when Kraft Foods Group merged with HJ Heinz in July 2015. The company is now the world’s fifth-largest food and beverage company and the third-largest in the U.S.

Grey Poupon achieved pop culture status in the 1980s with its iconic commercials featuring a pair of Rolls Royce passengers in which one passenger asks the other, "Pardon me, but would you have any Grey Poupon?" The response? "But of course."

The company now plans to expand operations at the Heinz manufacturing plant in Holland by consolidating 100% of the production of Grey Poupon mustard and insourcing the majority of Heinz Yellow Mustard to Michigan.

According to an internal April 28 MEDC briefing memo, Kraft Heinz has been moving toward global consolidation of its operations to increase profitability and eliminated redundancy. To support additional Grey Poupon production, the company would need to upgrade its own water treatment facility in Holland, a move not required by a move to a competing Illinois facility, according to the memo.

The state incentive grant, according to the MEDC, would help the company justify the move to Michigan over Illinois. State economic officials did not say what kind of jobs from the project may be available and the expected wages offered. People interested in jobs with Kraft Heinz should visit here or visit the company in Holland to apply in person.

“Back in 1897, Henry John Heinz had the vision to expand his operations into Holland, Michigan, driven by the area’s rich agriculture and eager workforce,” Kraft Heinz Factory Manager Brian Baculik said in a statement. “The community embraced the opportunity. Nearly 120 years later, the Heinz facility remains Holland’s oldest employer.”

Company spokesman Michael Mullen said in an e-mail that the decision to consolidate manufacturing across Kraft Heinz in North America "is a critical step in our plan to eliminate excess capacity and reduce operational redundancies for the new combined company. This will make Kraft Heinz more globally competitive and accelerate the company’s future growth."

The company is exiting its Lehigh Valley facility in Pennsylvania this summer and moving its production of Grey Poupon to Holland, officials said. The City of Holland has committed to a 12-year property abatement, but the company has not filed their application yet so the city hasn’t taken it up yet and the value is not known, according to a MEDC spokeswoman.

“Kraft Heinz Food Company’s decision to expand here is a testament to our community’s strong food-processing employee skill set, along with many other factors that add up to a solid location for world-class businesses,” said Jennfier Owens, president of Lakeshore Advantage, a nonprofit economic development organization in west Michigan.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Kent Quality Foods, a producer of high-quality meats, announcing its expansion recently in Jamestown Charter, investing nearly $35 million and creating 140 jobs. Spiech Farms, a grower of grapes, asparagus, lettuce and blueberries, is also expanding in Paw Paw. That project is expected to generate more than $1 million in private investment and create 55 jobs.

Michigan’s food-processing businesses generate nearly $25 billion in economic activity and employ more than 130,000 residents, according to state officials. Western Michigan is also home to Mead Johnson Nutrition, Butterball Farms, Coles, Kellogg’s, Country Fresh, Hudsonville and Gerber.

Contact Matthew Dolan: 313-223-4743 or msdolan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @matthewsdolan.