NATIONAL MANUFACTURING DAY SPOTLIGHT: DEL SOL FOOD CO.
This Friday is National Manufacturing Day, and KWHI wants to celebrate some of the big players in the manufacturing industry in Brenham and Washington County.
KWHI will highlight five noted manufacturers in the area, one for each day of the week. We’ll start off this week’s series with a look at Del Sol Food Company.
Located in Brenham at 3015 South Blue Bell Road, Del Sol Food Company is the maker and worldwide seller of Brianna’s Fine Salad Dressings, one of the few consumer packaged goods made in Washington County.
Brianna’s began in 1982 as a small family-owned operation out of Austin. In 1992, Del Sol began selling Brianna’s, which moved to a manufacturing facility in Chappell Hill. It would be made and distributed there until 2006, when it moved into a newly built facility in Brenham, where it has been ever since. In 2017, Brianna’s joined Sabormex, part of the La Costeña Group.
The company currently employs 70 permanent workers and 12 to 15 temporary employees.
President and CEO Scott Eckert said he’s excited about what the future holds for the company and its nearly-50 acre campus.
The company doubled its warehousing size in 2016, and is now working on moving distribution operations into the adjacent ADS building. The company expects to move into the new building in November.
Eckert said he has been pleased with the company’s partnership and tax abatements with local entities.
Eckert said the company looks to consumers to give it guidance on what makes sense for brand expansion and new products and services. He said the company is considering branching into food service, and offering items that are complementary to salad dressings.
Great. How many permanent employees work in the salad dressing plant in Brenham? And how many at other locations and where? Would appreciate Mr. Eckert responding.