Anchor Ingredients and Barrett Petfood Innovations Break Ground and Name New Freeze-Drying Business

Anchor Ingredients and Barrett Petfood Innovations broke ground on their new state-of-the-art freeze-drying manufacturing facility on July 20, 2021. The new business unit, branded North Freeze Dry, will be based in Little Falls, MN adjacent to BPI’s new co-manufacturing extrusion facility.

North Freeze Dry will soon become one of the industry’s premier freeze-drying co-manufacturing facilities in the nation. The facility has been designed to double its initial capacity thus providing significant runway for its customers to expand in the rapidly growing freeze-dried pet food category. “We are building something special with North Freeze Dry and are so excited to bring together the sourcing and raw material supply chain expertise of Anchor with the manufacturing expertise of BPI. The two companies are combining efforts to bring a differentiated level of support and services to some of today’s leading brands,” said Al Yablonski, CEO & Co-Founder of Anchor.

Construction is underway and the facility is scheduled to open in the first half of 2022. Due to North Freeze Dry’s proximity to BPI’s existing extrusion facility, the city of Little Falls, MN will soon become the industry’s go-to location for premium pet food brands. “The community in and around Little Falls is amazing and the team we have assembled is world-class,” said Sarah Barrett, Co-Managing Director of BPI.

Barrett will manage the onsite operations and business development of North Freeze Dry, while Anchor will manage sourcing, back-office administration and collaborate on sales. “It’s a true partnership and something that we envision will be the framework for one of the most successful freeze-drying manufacturing companies in the nation,” said Tom Barrett, Co-Managing Director of BPI.