Accelerating Redmond's Food & Beverage Industry

For SnoTemp, the decision to expand came after several years of serving Bend and Redmond companies at their facilities in the valley. “In 2010 when Kombucha Mama (now Humm Kombucha) started, CEO Jamie Danek drove up in her Prius with a keg of kombucha needing a place to store it so she could go sample it at the University of Oregon,” explains CEO Jason Lafferty. “Eventually the Prius turned into a truck and we started doing more and more volume. Since that time, we’ve watched their growth trajectory as they’ve become nationally distributed.” 

At the same time Humm was becoming a regular customer, SnoTemp was transitioning some of its freezers to coolers to support craft brewers in Eugene. The success of the local industry led them to look at the craft beer world in Bend. “As these things started coming together, we realized that Central Oregon needed some warehousing support,” he says.

Lafferty first reached out to Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) as he began researching sites around the region. Though the company had originally set its sights on Bend, EDCO Executive Director Roger Lee suggested SnoTemp look at Redmond. In the end, Redmond’s central location, proximity to major highways, and affordable land won the company over. Redmond Economic Development Inc. (REDI) Senior Manager Jon Stark led the collaborative effort with the City of Redmond to find the company an ideal location for its new facility.

“Jon connected all the dots for us. Compared to multiple cities in Oregon, the program Redmond puts out is clean and easy to follow. There’s one point of contact to help you understand the host of options available as a developer or company,” says Lafferty. “The city staff are also great to work with - accommodating, welcoming, and professional.”

Given the city’s expanding food and beverage industry, Stark recognized that SnoTemp’s new facility would be a strategic asset for accelerating the local economy. With over a dozen established food and beverage manufacturers, the city continues to experience demand for space and facilities. Three new startup breweries are also slated to open this year, further establishing Redmond as a developing hub for craft brewers.

The city’s employment numbers reflect this increase in activity. State Economist Damon Rundberg reports that Redmond’s employment in the sector has more than doubled since 2016. Last year, the industry employed 196 annually with a total payroll of $7.7 million. As these companies outgrow their facilities, they are finding different solutions for addressing their storage issues. Some are able to build their own warehouses, while others may utilize resources like SnoTemp to resolve their space constraints.

Oregon’s Wild Harvest owner Pam Martin remembers when her company had reached its limit. After two decades in its Sandy, Oregon facility, the company had literally run out of room for processing, packaging and storing its whole plant herbal supplements. The pressure put plans in motion to relocate to a larger facility in Redmond that offered more warehouse space and additional room for plant testing, quality assurance and research. The company finalized their move in 2014. 

Oregon’s Wild Harvest now operates in a 47,000 square foot building on 5 acres in Redmond’s industrial zone. “We’ve been here a little over three years and we are pretty full,” says Martin. “I thought I would be able to rent out space but we’re using almost all of it. We do have capacity to add another 15,000 square feet which may eventually happen.” The company also recently purchased the historic Tom McCall 569 acre ranch just outside the city where it will be growing its organic herbs biodynamically.

Steve Anderson of Kobold Brewing may be facing his own storage dilemma in the next year. Once a two-barrel brewer out of his garage in Bend, Anderson successfully launched The Vault taproom in downtown Redmond last July. The popular tasting room has catapulted the brewery’s sales of its small batch beers. In response, Kobold is building a new brewery off Northeast Hemlock Avenue that will support production at 2,000 barrels a year and additional distribution to the Eugene and Portland markets.

As for when the brewery might need extra storage space, Anderson admits it is hard to predict. “I’m not sure if we’re going to have enough space to store all of our product. It depends if it all goes into keg and what we decide to do with bottles and cans,” he says. “Initial orders for shells (empty cans) is gigantic and I know we don’t have enough space to store them. The SnoTemp warehouse could be a big asset for us.” He plans to connect with Lafferty in the next few months to discuss potential options.

For his part, Lafferty is excited to reach out to local businesses. “Our value proposition is that as a manufacturer you can put your money into making a better product and marketing that product rather than building infrastructure that is a strain on your capital,” he explains. “Our customers pay on a per pallet basis. That means when they have seasonal fluctuations they aren’t stuck with a lease payment or a mortgage that doesn’t match their needs.”  SnoTemp’s initial customers will include Humm Kombucha and Good Life Brewing, with additional space available for lease.

REDI Senior Manager Jon Stark sees the SnoTemp project as a catalyst for the industry’s future growth. “Most startup manufacturers don’t have the capital to invest in their own facilities,” he says. “This kind of storage can be a critical resource for smaller companies, allowing them to conserve cash flow and maximize profitability. We’re happy to have SnoTemp as part of our manufacturing community.”

Success stories like Humm Kombucha and 10 Barrel Brewing are inspiring local food and beverage entrepreneurs as well as attracting new ones to the region. The limited availability of industrial space and higher land prices in Bend are also prompting manufacturers to consider Redmond for their operations. Clearly, the city is open for business. “Right now, Redmond has a lot of attractive opportunities for food and beverage manufacturers,” asserts Stark. “We’re excited to support companies like SnoTemp who can help us launch smaller, innovative producers to greater success.”

In the long term, Lafferty believes his company can support craft beverage and small food companies with build to suit manufacturing spaces next door to their warehouse facility. “Eventually we’ll be looking at providing space that can accommodate 5,000-20,000 square feet of co-located processing. That is what will really help drive our business.”