Ben E. Keith plans automation for new Albuquerque warehouse
A major food distribution company is preparing to break ground on a massive new Albuquerque warehouse, storage and shipping facility that will quadruple the company’s space in Duke City.
Ben E. Keith Co., a Texas-based company that distributes food for hospitals, restaurants, hotels and other large businesses, announced plans to break ground on a 261,000-square-foot warehouse on Albuquerque’s West Side. Kim Snitker, marketing and design manager for Ben E. Keith, said the move will make the company more efficient and give them plenty of room to expand in the future, demonstrating its ongoing commitment to New Mexico.
“We’re not going anywhere, we’re just getting bigger”
A rendering of Ben E. Keith Co. 261,337-square-foot facility, which is slated to be built on Albuquerque’s West Side, at 601 Gallatin Place NW. (Rendering courtesy of Ben E. Keith)
Ben E. Keith was founded in 1906, and entered the New Mexico market in 1991, with the purchase of ABC Produce Distributors. The company began operating out of its current facility, a 63,000-square-foot facility on Broadway Boulevard SE, in 1999, according to Todd Hickam, general manager of Ben E. Keith’s New Mexico division.
From that site, Ben E. Keith ships a wide array of food products all over New Mexico, as well as to El Paso and southern Colorado. However, Hickam said the company has been looking for a new space for years to keep up with its rate of growth.
“This warehouse was built for a lot less volume, so we’ve outgrown that”
The company purchased a 50.2-acre parcel off of Gallatin Place NW, directly south of Interstate 40 near Unser Boulevard, in 2017. Hickam said the property made sense because it offered easy access to the highway for shipping purposes, as well as enough size to expand beyond the initial 261,337-square-foot campus.
Once completed, the new warehouse will significantly increase Ben E. Keith’s dry, cool and frozen storage spaces. Hickam said the company’s entire current warehouse can fit inside the freezer at the new facility. “And we still have about 10,000 square feet we could run around in after that, in the freezer alone,” Hickam added.
Additionally, the new space will have a automated system that sorts stored items more efficiently and allows the company to store more products onsite. Snitker added that the new facility will have 40 total dock doors to speed up loading and unloading trucks, a modern test kitchen, and an open-plan office with more space for collaboration.
Overall, the new space offers a chance for the company to grow in Albuquerque while increasing its efficiency, Hickam said. He added that the company is planning to hire additional employees, though he did not identify a target number.
The groundbreaking event for the facility is scheduled for Nov. 7, at 601 Gallatin Place NW. Hickam added that he expects the new building to be completed by early 2021.
