Voyage Foods plans Ohio plant for cocoa-free products

Voyage Foods plans to expand production with a 284,000-square-foot facility in Mason, Ohio. The site is intended to manufacture cocoa-free chocolate, nut-free spreads and bean-free coffee. The company expects operations to begin by 2025, with annual cocoa-free chocolate capacity reaching 10,000 metric tons once the facility is fully built.

Construction is being financed partly through a US Department of Agriculture guaranteed loan programme of approximately $25 million. Voyage will retain both its headquarters and its existing manufacturing site in Oakland, California. Founded in 2021, the company has raised more than $94 million from investors. Chief executive and founder Adam Maxwell describes the expansion as a move toward large-scale manufacturing.

Distribution for food manufacturers

The Ohio plan follows a commercial partnership announced by Cargill on 8 April 2024. Cargill became Voyage Foods’ exclusive global distributor for business customers, adding cocoa-free confectionery and alternative spreads to its existing chocolate portfolio. The partners identified bakery products, ice cream and confectionery as applications for the ingredients.

Cargill initially planned to offer the cocoa-free range in Europe, with other regions to follow. The announcement described recipes made without peanut, hazelnut or dairy ingredients.

Bean-free coffee joins the range

Voyage announced commercial availability of its bean-free coffee on 16 July 2024 for foodservice operators and food manufacturers. The product uses roasted chickpeas and rice hulls, with caffeine sourced from green tea.

The company offers caffeinated and decaffeinated versions, with formats for different preparation methods:

Roast and ground products.
Liquid coffee alternatives and liquid concentrates.
Instant formats in a range of flavour profiles.

Voyage Foods

Maxwell positioned the product as an alternative for the mass-market coffee segment.

Food and beverage businesses were invited to sample or test the range through Voyage’s foodservice channel. The July product launch and April distribution agreement precede the manufacturing expansion announced in October.