Monin Americas’ Spanish Springs facility cuts transit time by half

If you’ve ordered a specialty coffee, smoothie or blended drink anywhere in the West recently, chances are it was flavored with a syrup made at Monin Americas’ western region production facility in Spanish Springs.

The Clearwater, Florida-based maker of gourmet flavored syrups, sauces and fruit purees expanded to Sparks in 2020 with a 115,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility, but Monin quickly outgrew that space, said Ty Hartigan, Sparks warehouse manager for Monin Americas.

“When we first moved in, we said, ‘OK, we’ve got space that will probably last 10 years,’ but about two years in we realized we needed more room,” Hartigan told NNBW last week. “Sales had increased, so production also had to increase.”

Devcon Construction recently completed a 123,000-square-foot building in the Spanish Springs Business Park that will serve as a western region distribution hub for Monin Americas. Product racking has been disassembled in the original facility and moved over to the new building. The slightly smaller warehouse, meanwhile, will be the primary production center for Monin’s western region customers.

Earlier this spring, Monin added a second fully-automated production line to fill its smaller 50 milliliter bottles, which are primarily used for flavor sampling. A second main packaging line is expected to increase production by as much as 60 percent by years-end, Hartigan said – and that’s just the beginning.

“The new (distribution) warehouse sets us up fantastically,” he said. “We now have the space to put in a third, fourth and even possibly a fifth production line so we can keep up with West Coast demand. We now have the space for production, and we have the distribution space as well.”

Monin has more than 200 flavors in its product lineup, Hartigan added. Its portfolio of flavorings includes syrups, purées, gourmet sauces, sugar-free syrups, beverage concentrates, natural zero flavorings, functional beverage boosts and cocktail mixers.

Privately held Monin Gourmet Flavorings was founded in 1912 in Bourges, France and expanded to the U.S. in 1995. Since then the company had been running its North American operations from its manufacturing and distribution headquarters in Clearwater. However, as western region operations grew, shipping times became unfeasible, Hartigan told NNBW.

Monin had been using a third-party logistics provider in Southern California for its LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments and some small parcels, but sending truckloads all the way from Florida to Southern California to be broken down and shipped to other states in the West led to long lead times for Monin’s customers.

“We decided to build a facility out here to reduce our carbon footprint and transportation costs, and to serve our customers better,” Hartigan said. “It reduces transit time by half. Now we can serve close to 90 percent of our customers with a one- to two-day transit versus what used to be a five- or six-day transit.”

Hartigan started the Northern Nevada facility with two employees who also moved from Florida. Monin currently employs more than 70 people in Northern Nevada and is looking to add approximately 10 positions in the coming months as the second facility comes fully online, Hartigan said. Monin Americas has more than 350 employees serving customers in the U.S., Canada, South American and the Caribbean.

Bill Lombardo, CEO at Monin Americas, said in a statement that the Monin Americas’ team continues to expand the company’s capabilities and output.

“Our collective goal as a company is to keep the customer at the centerpoint, making each and every customer more successful,” Lombardo said. “This facility is a testament to our relentless drive to innovate and grow, creating new jobs and opportunities in the process.”

The new warehouse is Monin Americas’ fourth major facility in the U.S. In addition to its Florida operations, the company added distribution centers in Largo, Florida, and Zelienople, Pennsylvania.

In 2023, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada and the state of Nevada recognized Monin for expanding to the state and introducing new job opportunities at its Monin West production line and warehouse. Globally, Monin operates its original two locations in France, along with manufacturing facilities in Shanghai, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.