The new location at the former GM paint shop facility at 4100 Springboro Pike will be dedicated to small-bag and multi-pack snack varieties, marking a shift in the company’s production strategy.
“It’s very different because it’s small-bag (only),” Cussatti said in an exclusive interview with this news outlet. “Our other facilities run larger bags so that they can run more volume, but they won’t run as much small-bag volume as this facility does.”
He said Shearer’s Foods plans to make its new Moraine site “the Center of Excellence for the entire organization.”
“We want to put all the latest and greatest technologies, all our new processes for training and qualifying our employees and supporting them and making this ... the place where every plant can come visit to understand what the expectations are for the future in their own facilities,” Cussatti said.
The company is nearing the end of nearly a year of extensive renovations needed to make the facility meet the rigorous safety standards of food manufacturing, he said. That includes sealing the building to improve pest control and installing drains for sanitation purposes when cleaning machinery, he said.
Renovations also have included upgrading HVAC systems to manage the heat from cooking processes and adding specialized flooring and paneling in production areas, Cussatti said.
“We’re frying at 400 degrees, so it’s going to get hot in some areas, but we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to minimize that exposure” and make it a safe environment for employees, he said.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The plant features an on-site quality lab to ensure food safety and product quality, Cussatti said. Testing will occur every two hours, with a product inspection team evaluating package quality, appearance, texture and flavor.
“If it doesn’t meet our expectation, we shut off the line and we put the product on hold,” he said.
Being dedicated to small-bag production and multi-pack products will allow the company to adapt to changing consumer habits, Cussatti said.
“We can put different varieties of potato chips and tortilla chips and any kind of snack into a multi-pack box” to give customers a choice of products to pack for lunches, family outings, sporting events and parties, Cussatti said.
The new Moraine location will feature advanced automation that will allow Shearer’s Foods to quickly and easily change flavor or seasoning on each of its production lines, he said.
The company will use only small potatoes to make its chips because the resulting chips fit better in compact bags, Cussatti said.
Shearer’s will start out with a staff of at least 250 employees and add more positions as production ramps up.
The company plans to start its tortilla line Dec. 1, followed by corn chips and potato chips in early 2026.
Initial hiring began in July, with key roles like plant director, quality manager and environmental health and safety manager already filled. Hiring efforts are planned to continue both at hiring events and online at www.shearers.com/careers.
Shearer’s also is rolling out a 13-week onboarding program to ensure new hires learn chip-making basics at existing facilities and receive hands-on instruction from equipment vendors, Cussatti said.
Founded more than 50 years ago, Shearer’s Foods is the largest private-label salty snack manufacturer in North America.
The company, which is headquartered in Massillon, once had its own name brand but discontinued it several years ago to concentrate on delivering high-quality products for other companies across the United States and Canada, Cussatti said.
“Our brand is our reputation on quality and service, so we have to be the best at quality, we have to be the best at service,” he said. “Our customers need to depend on us to be able to deliver that product.”
Shearer’s, because it is a private-label co-manufacturer, does not disclose the names of the companies for which it produces, said company spokeswoman Mandy Bobbs.
“If you walk into a store and buy a bag of salty snacks, rest assured you’re probably buying something that Shearer’s produced,” Bobbs said.
The company, which is targeting more than 35 million pounds of production during its launch, expects to more than double that via a product expansion planned for next fall, Cussatti said.
Before snack production begins, Shearer’s Foods plans to celebrate and welcome its new hires with an event mirroring a professional sports signing-day, he said.
“In the end, people are going to make the difference here,” Cussatti said. “So the better culture we build, the better engagement, the more empowered our workforce feels, the better off we’re going to be.”
He said Shearer’s Foods is excited to be a part of the Dayton-area expansion and to be a part of the community.
“We’re an Ohio-based company, so it’s nice to expand within our own state and continue to bring more revenues to Ohio and expand our manufacturing base in Ohio,” Cussatti said.
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