Kitchen Food Co., an Australia-founded premium ready-meals business, will locate a prepared foods facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, with a $69 million investment creating 925 jobs. This represents the single largest job-creation announcement in Christian County in more than 20 years, and the fifth largest job-creation project statewide under the Beshear-Coleman administration.
“What began as a passion for sharing healthy fresh meals with our local community in Sydney, Australia, has now brought us to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, our new home base in the U.S.,” said Kitchen Food Co. Co-founder and CEO Christian Avramides. “We have chosen Hopkinsville due to the proactive support and dedication of the local community leadership, coupled with the quality produce, excellent workforce and central location. We are honored to join forces with the wonderful people of Kentucky as we start this new chapter, bringing flavorful, nutritious and affordable meal options to American families, made fresh daily in Kentucky.”
“Our company has a strong tradition of loyalty and developing talent from within,” added company Co-founder and CEO Daniel Borenstein. “Many of our senior leaders started on the factory floor, and we look forward to offering similar opportunities for growth and advancement to the residents of Kentucky.”
“Today’s announcement is a great reminder that Kentucky’s economic momentum is not only here to stay, but that the commonwealth is open and ready for companies from all over the world to establish their New Kentucky Home,” said Governor Andy Beshear. “This project represents the single largest job-creation announcement in Christian County in over two decades, which means countless new opportunities for Kentuckians in Hopkinsville and the surrounding region to provide for themselves and their families. I want to thank Christian Avramides and Daniel Borenstein of Kitchen Food Co. for choosing and believing in our great state. I look forward to watching their success and growth here in the commonwealth.”
The project will see the company establish an ultra-modern manufacturing facility in Hopkinsville, its first operation in the United States, located in a 100,000-square-foot facility. Construction and building renovations are expected to begin early in 2025 and be completed in the summer of 2026. The 925 jobs created will include operations and production managers, HR managers, accountants, technical managers, engineers, supervisors, machine operators, forklift drivers and process and warehouse operatives.
Carter Hendricks, Executive Director of the Southwestern Kentucky Economic Development Council, welcomes the company to the community and looks forward to their success in the commonwealth: “We are excited to welcome Kitchen Food Co. to southwestern Kentucky as they are set to purchase our 100,000-square-foot shell building in Hopkinsville’s Commerce Park for their first U.S. based facility. Their investment will mark the region’s first Australian and twenty fourth international company. With their company leadership and strong performance combined with our region’s agricultural assets, workforce and distribution advantages, we are confident the company will succeed and grow in our less taxing, more relaxing region.”
