The Original Cakerie

The Original Cakerie

Overview

  • When the largest privately owned dessert manufacturer in Canada reached capacity in its Delta, British Columbia plant, it looked east to Ontario, at the heart of the North American market.  

Project Highlights

  • To facilitate the shipping of frozen decorated cakes, this 130,000 SF facility had a Variable Retention Time (VRT) freezer, the largest of its kind at the time, with 1000’ of conveyer in eight different cells at -10˚F.
  • Thanks to close coordination, the project was completed in 11 months from groundbreaking to saleable product, despite a winter with unusually high snow falls.
  • It received a gold rating from the American Institute of Baking (AIB) due to sanitary design practices that exceeded AIB and GMP standards, and production rates were higher than expected immediately upon start-up.

 

 

Rare Breed Distilling

RARE BREED DISTILLING

Overview

  • After Campari Group purchased Wild Turkey the decided to invest $100 MM in the Lawrenceburg, KY facility in order to bring all bottling and packaging in-house once again.

Project Highlights

  • Dennis Group was responsible for the design and construction of a grassroots bottling plant for Wild Turkey at its distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. The facility was designed to produce Skyy vodka, flavored vodkas, Wild Turkey bourbon, American Honey and various specialty bourbons and featured three high-speed bottling lines with room for a future fourth line.
  • The building was constructed on a very hilly site with an excess of 25 feet elevation difference in the original topography resulting in a massive cut and fill operation; a considerable amount of blasting was needed to remove ledge.
  • The project features an outdoor tank farm for incoming spirits, capable of holding up to 300,000 gallons of product, a 15,000 SF blending room with 400,000 gallons of blending and bottling tanks and a 40,000 SF bottling hall.
  • The upstairs office core was designed with a viewing mezzanine to allow Wild Turkey to conduct visitor tours of their operation and the facility has become an important stop on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail.

 

Diageo

DIAGEO

Project Highlights

Dennis Group has a long-standing history working with Diageo in a variety of capacities. This project included:

    • Miscellaneous interior renovations to the existing facility
    • Raw material receipt – upgrade of existing rail car unloading and relocation of tanker truck unloading
    • Raw material storage – addition of two 10,000 gallon storage tanks
    • Vodka processing system – 32 gallons per minute, 11-charcoal tank filtration system, automatic batch blending system
    • New gin and flavored vodka processing systems
    • Finished spirits distribution system
    • Water treatment (RO) system
    • Compressed air system relocation and extension
    • Utility support for upgraded bottling lines as well as a new bottling line

 

Taylor Farms

TAYLOR FARMS

Overview

  • Taylor Farm purchased a former jams and jellies plant, which in turn had to be converted into a high-grade USDA retail processing facility.

Project Highlights

  • The project included complete demolition of an existing facility with the exception of three exterior building walls, as well as construction of a state-of-the-art refrigerated facility for the production of prepared salads and cut vegetables.
  • This design-build project was completed on a fast-track schedule in less than 9 months in spite of challenging existing site conditions which included several adjacent properties that were located in close proximity.

 

Campbell Soup

CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY

Overview

  • StockPot, a subsidiary of Campbell Soup Company, produced fresh-refrigerated soups, entrées, sauces, chilies, gravies, and side dishes. All products emphasized freshness and quality, using fresh-cut vegetables, genuine dairy products, fresh herbs and spices, and premium meats and seafood.

Project Highlights

  • Dennis Group provided complete design-build services for StockPot’s new greenfield facility project in Woodinville, WA, but their business had tripled in a short time, so Dennis Group was once again engaged when they required a second new facility on an 18-acre site.
  • The new soup manufacturing facility doubled the size of their production capacity, as well as implemented an expanded state-of-the-art clean-in-place (CIP) system to accommodate the made-to-order soup runs while improving production efficiency of StockPot’s unique cook, chill and packaging systems.

 

 

Kellogg’s

KELLOGG’S

Overview

  • Kellogg’s Ontario facility that produced the Mini-Wheats branded cereal made a $43 MM investment to add a new cereal production line that made use of advanced food manufacturing technologies.

Project Highlights

  • Dennis Group provided complete site, facility, and process design for this expansion project at the Belleville, Ontario, Canada facility. The project included the renovation of approximately 76,000 SF of existing building shell (fit up of slabs, UG plumbing, walls, etc) to facilitate the installation of a new 30MM pound/year DX cereal line.
  • Major accomplishments include going from KAR approval  to saleable product in 11 months, all while working in an existing operating facility.
  • The project also required the removal and replacement of a 5,000 SF section of the existing buildings roof and replacement with a 100psf blast resistant roof to house the new mix room.

 

 

 

Sheetz

SHEETZ BROTHERS

Overview

  • Sheet Brothers developed a kitchen bakery, distribution center and warehouse on a 44-acre site to support their growing distribution fleet in the Southern region.

Project Highlights

  • Dennis Group provided complete site, facility and process design, procurement and installation services for this greenfield site.
  • A 44.64 acre site was developed for construction of a 246,000 SF processing facility to house 42,000 SF of production space, and equipment for the making of donuts, donut holes, breakfast sandwiches, cold sandwiches and wraps, parfait cups, and repackaging of mac-n-cheese from bulk to individual serving containers.
  • This project also encompassed an office building to support the 116,000 SF ambient distribution warehouse, 45,000 SF refrigerated warehouse and retail operations and an annex structure for fleet maintenance, vehicle washing, and fueling.

 

Imperial Sugar

IMPERIAL SUGAR

Overview

  • Dennis Group was brought in shortly after a catastrophic series of explosions destroyed much of Imperial Sugar’s refinery & packaging facilities. Following investigations conducted by OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), Dennis Group was released to begin management of site/facility demolition while simultaneously planning for the design-build reconstruction of the site and facilities with “world class” vision.

Project Highlights

  • 11 months following project release and commencement of construction, key operations for Imperial Sugar were back on line.
  • Scope included 185,000 SF of new building construction plus 40,000 SF of damaged facility renovations and new production and packaging equipment.
  • 300 tons/hour of sugar was distributed via dense phase systems (with dilute phase systems for powder & starch conveyance), three large storage silos constructed & fit up, truck and rail load out reconstructed with updated technologies, and eleven high volume packaging lines (granulated, brown and powder) all with the most current NFPA, OSHA and CSB recommendations, guidelines & requirements. Extensive wet and dry dust collection systems were incorporated into the design.
  • Maintaining schedule and cost while incorporating design innovations and working around existing site constraints were major challenges overcome during this fast-track project. Once key elements of production were on line construction of facilities and installation of process equipment were performed without interruption to ongoing operations. This required close coordination with plant personnel, 24 hour per day construction activities and managing over 600 contractors per day during peak installation & commissioning periods.