Food & BeveragePasco, WashingtonAnnouncement date · Jul 1, 2021

Darigold Pasco Dairy Processing Plant

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Darigold's Pasco plant turns milk from Northwest dairy farms into butter and powdered milk products for domestic and international markets. Built at the Port of Pasco's Reimann Industrial Center, the facility expands the farmer-owned cooperative's processing capacity and connects regional farms with customers beyond the Northwest. Darigold confirmed the plant was receiving and processing milk by June 2025, while work continued on production equipment. Designed to handle up to 8 million pounds of milk a day at full capacity, the plant represents a $600 million investment announced at groundbreaking and approximately 200 direct jobs.

Investment
$600.0M
Permanent jobs announced
Approximately 200
Status
Operational
Operations began
June 2025

Darigold's July 2021 announcement described an investment of approximately $500 million, and Washington cited $500 million in January 2023. AFT records the $600 million facility investment Darigold identified at its September 2022 groundbreaking; the sources do not explain the difference. Darigold's later figure exceeding $1 billion includes on-farm expansion and is not assigned entirely to this plant. Approximately 200 announced direct jobs. This is not a verified current headcount. Farm, transportation, warehousing and other supporting employment are excluded.

Why this project qualifies

With $600 million in facility-specific investment and approximately 200 permanent operating jobs announced, this project clears both of AFT's qualifying thresholds ($100 million in facility-specific investment OR 100 permanent operating jobs). It is also confirmed by official public sources and involves a physical manufacturing facility in the United States.

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Why it matters

The food & beverage context.

Food and beverage manufacturing is a broad and growing part of America's industrial expansion. From dairy and protein processing to packaged foods, snacks, and beverages, new plants and expansions are adding production capacity across the country. These projects bring major investment and substantial job creation while strengthening domestic supply chains and regional manufacturing economies.

Project record

At a glance

Company
Darigold
Industry
Food & Beverage
Location
Pasco, Washington
Investment
$600.0M
Permanent jobs announced
Approximately 200
Status
Operational
Announced
Jul 1, 2021
Opening timeline
Operational by June 2025, with production equipment still being completed at that time. The June announcement does not establish the exact date processing began or confirm completion of every production line.
Added to tracker
Oct 26, 2026
Sources

Official references

Cite this project

American Factory Tracker. "Darigold Pasco Dairy Processing Plant, WA." https://americanfactorytracker.com/projects/darigold-pasco. Accessed October 27, 2026.

Please also cite the original sources listed above for underlying figures.

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