Item 2. Properties
Item 2 — Properties
We own or lease five principal production facilities. We also lease warehouses near our Elgin and Bainbridge production facilities. Our primary processing facility is located at our Elgin, Illinois site, which also houses our primary manufacturing operations and corporate headquarters (the “Elgin Site”). The remaining principal production facilities are located in Bainbridge, Georgia; Selma, Texas; Gustine, California and Lakeville, Minnesota. In addition, we operate a retail store at the Elgin Site.
We believe that our facilities are generally well maintained and in good operating condition.
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a. Principal Facilities
The following table provides certain information regarding our principal facilities:
Location
Square
Footage
Type of
Interest
Description of Principal Use
Date Company
Constructed,
Acquired or
First Occupied
Bainbridge, Georgia
300,000
Owned and Leased
Peanut shelling, purchasing, processing,
packaging, warehousing and distribution
1987
Selma, Texas (1)
300,000
Leased
Pecan shelling, processing, bulk packaging,
warehousing and distribution
1992
Gustine, California
215,000
Owned
Walnut shelling, processing, packaging,
warehousing and distribution
1993
Elgin, Illinois (2)
(Elgin Office Building)
400,000
Owned
Rental property
2005
Elgin, Illinois
(Elgin Manufacturing Building)
1,001,000
Owned
Processing, packaging and corporate offices
2005
Lakeville, Minnesota
298,000
Owned
Bars, processing and packaging
2023
Huntley, Illinois (3)
445,000
Leased
Warehousing and distribution
2024
(1) The sale and lease back of the Selma properties to related party partnerships was consummated in fiscal 2007. See Note 7 —“Long-Term Debt” of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
(2) The Elgin Office Building (part of the Elgin Site) was acquired in April 2005. Approximately 79% of the Elgin Office Building is currently vacant. Approximately 29% of the rentable area has not been built-out. The vacant portion of the office building may be leased to third parties; however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to lease the unoccupied space. Further capital expenditures will likely be necessary to fully lease the remaining space.
(3) On January 15, 2026, the Company executed a 10 year lease for the remaining available 285,000 square feet in the current warehouse we rent in Huntley, Illinois. The warehouse is utilized to store finished goods and non-food inventory, to operate as a distribution center and to conduct light manufacturing activities. The lease for the remaining space in Huntley is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of fiscal 2027.
b. Manufacturing Capability, Utilization, Technology and Engineering
Our principal production facilities are equipped with modern processing and packaging machinery and equipment.
The Elgin Site, our main processing and packaging facility for nut and trail mix products that also manufactures and packages bars, was designed to our specifications to efficiently move products from raw storage through processing and packaging to distribution and ultimately to our external warehouse. The Elgin Site was designed to minimize the risk of cross contamination between tree nuts and peanuts. As currently configured, we believe the Elgin Site can accommodate an increase in production capacity of 15% to 20% of our current capacity, however certain production lines are at full capacity during peak periods. The Huntley facility allows us to accommodate increases in future demand and alleviate storage space constraints at the Elgin Site. The Huntley facility can, on average, accommodate an increase of 20% of its current storage capacity, however at certain points in time of the year, we are at full capacity. With the additional square footage we are leasing in fiscal 2027, the Huntley facility will be able to accommodate a 40% increase in storage capacity.
The Selma facility is used for our automated pecan shelling, packaging, bulk packaging, warehousing and distribution operations. The facility’s pecan shelling production lines currently have the capacity to shell in excess of 90 million inshell pounds of pecans annually. During fiscal 2026, we processed approximately 33 million inshell pounds of pecans at the Selma facility. The quantity of pecans processed varies depending on the amount of inshell nuts purchased due to, among other things, commodity acquisition cost risk, the size and cost of the crop, the impact of international demand and expected demand based on our current sales forecast.
The Bainbridge facility is located in the largest peanut producing region in the United States and is used for nut purchasing, peanut shelling, peanut butter production and distribution. This facility takes direct delivery of farmer stock peanuts and cleans, shells, sizes, inspects, blanches, roasts and packages them for sale to our customers. The production line at the Bainbridge facility is almost entirely automated and has the capacity to shell approximately 120 million inshell pounds of peanuts annually. During fiscal 2026, the Bainbridge facility shelled approximately 78 million inshell pounds of peanuts.
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The Lakeville facility is used for manufacturing and packaging bars. This facility produces chewy, fruit and grain, sweet and salty, dipped, crunchy, fiber, fig and protein bars along with loose granola. We believe the Lakeville facility can accommodate an increase in production capacity of 15% to 20% of its current capacity, however certain production lines are at full capacity and there is no available physical space for additional capacity.
The Gustine facility is used for walnut shelling, pasteurization, processing, bulk and retail packaging, warehousing and distribution. This facility has the capacity to shell in excess of 60 million inshell pounds of walnuts annually. During fiscal 2026, the Gustine facility shelled approximately 39 million inshell pounds of walnuts. The quantity of walnuts shelled will vary depending on the amount of inshell nuts purchased due to, among other things, commodity acquisition cost risk, the size and cost of the crop, the impact of international demand, and expected demand based on our current sales forecast.