AbiMar plans Abilene automation and workplace upgrades

Equipment and workplace investment

AbiMar Foods plans to invest $4.6 million over two years in its Abilene, Texas, operations. The cookie and cracker manufacturer, a Grupo Nutresa subsidiary, intends to upgrade automation across three facilities and retain 550 employees through the project.

The investment programme covers production systems and employee facilities. Planned work includes:

• Production equipment and software upgrades;
• Renovation of the north plant offices;
• Improvements to employee break areas and restrooms.

The company aims to improve efficiency, worker safety, scalability and product consistency. Development Corporation of Abilene partnership incentives are reimbursable after AbiMar meets its contracted capital-investment requirements. The spending commitment concerns an expansion programme announced in June 2024.

An earlier investment partnership

Local investment support predates this programme. In February 2012, Abilene's development corporation announced $510,000 in assistance for Fehr Foods, the business now known as AbiMar. The arrangement provided for gradual payments as the company substantiated its investments.

At that time, the company linked its investment plans to improvements in quality, productivity and employee conditions. Its plans also included a new production line intended to increase capacity and develop additional packaging formats. That earlier support belonged to a separate investment programme; the 2024 announcement sets out a new commitment for AbiMar's Abilene operations.

Cracker production and packaging

AbiMar's cracker-manufacturing capabilities expanded before the latest investment plan. By September 2015, its Abilene cracker bakery was producing saltines, snack crackers and graham varieties for the Lil’ Dutch Maid and Tru-Blu brands. The bakery occupied a former retail building that had been renovated and expanded for food production.

From dough preparation to finished packs

The operation combined automated bulk-ingredient handling with temperature-controlled dough preparation. Minor ingredients were weighed in a separate room, while sponge and dough preparation used staged mixing and fermentation. Dough then passed through a makeup line and rollers, followed by lamination and successive reductions to the required thickness.

The crackers baked on a steel mesh band before break rollers separated them into organised lines. Multiple packaging arms supported different sizes and formats at the same time. These were established production arrangements documented in 2015, alongside the company's collaboration with its Colombian parent group's technical teams during product development and startup.