Celebrating our new distribution center in Salina, Kansas

We recently had a lot of fun earlier this month at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new refrigerated distribution center in Salina, Kansas.

The event was held at our pizza production facility, where we were joined by Gov. Laura Kelly, U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann and several community leaders to help us celebrate the occasion.

The new distribution center provides a centralized location to store and transport the foods we make at facilities throughout the United States, including the Red Baron® and Tony’s® pizzas made in Salina. 

Here are some interesting facts about the new distribution center:

• It's now the tallest building in Salina at 144 feet.
• The new building adds 140,000 square feet of distribution center space to our overall campus in Salina. This brings the total distribution center space to about 245,000 square feet. The entire campus exceeds 1 million square feet. 
• Popular brands that pass through the facility include Red Baron, Tony's and bibigo foods.
• Construction began in 2023 and was completed earlier this year.
• The facility includes a 38,000-pallet-position racking system with three automated pallet cranes, 12 loading docks and office space.

The new distribution center supports a much larger project that we completed in 2023, when we held a grand-opening for a new 400,000-square-foot manufacturing space. Overall, the two projects resulted in the addition of 225 jobs in the Salina community.

Nine team members receive Founders’ Award

Every year, we celebrate team members who go above and beyond — not just in what they do but in how they do it. We do this with the presentation of our most prestigious employee honor, the Founders’ Award.

Teams across our company recently recognized nine individuals with the Founders’ Award. Each person was surprised with the honor during ceremonies held by their teams and direct leaders.

Award recipients included:

• Kay Woo, a director of purchasing synergy who’s been with us for 21 years.
• Adalberto Ramos, an associate sanitation supervisor who has been with us for four years.
• Madeline Garretson, a human resources director who has been with us for six years.
• Angie Johnson, a senior manager of integrated business who has been with us for 23 years.
• Jon Gerken, a systems analyst lead who has been with us for 26 years.
• Chef Craig Claude, a culinary services manager who has been with us for 12 years.
• Dennis Graham, a general zone manager who has been with us for 23 years.
• Emma Buysse, a customer service supervisor who has been with us for six years.
• Jim Jansch, a field sales operations manager who has been with us for 29 years.

CJ Schwan's Founders’ Award recognizes employees who best demonstrate our core three culture behaviors of Lead Yourself First; One Table, One Team; and Driven to Win. Nominees for the award are submitted by their peers, and the final recipients are chosen by the executive leadership team.

This year, nine people stood out for all the right reasons — and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate them!