Food distributor plans major expansion in Loris, will hire dozens of new workers
Carolina Food Service, a food distributor that supplies many Hispanic and Latino restaurants in Horry County and in North and South Carolina, announced Thursday a major expansion of its Loris distribution facility that will create dozens of new jobs.
The $3.7 million expansion will create 71 new jobs as the company builds an additional 20,000 square foot facility in the Loris industrial park, one of the company’s several expansions since it opened in 2009. The company has purchased an additional nine acres in the industrial park.
South Carolina’s Coordinating Council for Economic Development is supplying the company with a $100,000 grant to jump start the expansion, money that will help pay for site preparation and construction once the company invests its own $100,000.
Carolina Food Service has occupied the industrial park since its founding and was the county’s first independent food distributor, supplying everything from steak, to vegetables to rice and grits.
Loris Mayor Todd Harrelson celebrated the expansion on Thursday, in part because the company has been a good neighbor. He said one Carolina Food Service employee regularly volunteers to cook food for families at local baseball and softball games and that the company aided locals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When supplies like hand sanitizer and toilet paper were hard to find, Harrelson said, Carolina Food Service used its connections to ship those products in for Loris residents.
“I’m just proud and I’m glad to have Carolina Foods,” he said. “I’m just glad to have them as part of this community because they contribute in many ways. They’re good people.”
The expansion also represents the growing popularity of the Loris industrial park, a project of Santee Cooper, the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation and the city.
Sandy Davis, the head of the MBREDC, said the park has “moved on” from a rocky past in which a manufacturing company opened its doors in 2015 and shut down without warning in December 2018. Other firms, like Integra Fabrics and Builders First Source also operate out of the industrial park.
“The community welcomes change so I think that’s going to be a big plus for the city of Loris,” she said.
Carolina Food Service has begun hiring for the 71 jobs already, Davis said, and could employ people from both Horry County and North Carolina.
Since the pandemic began, Davis explained, Carolina Food Service has expanded rapidly, first into other parts of South Carolina and then into parts of North Carolina. President and CEO Juan Seratto said he was “truly excited and beyond grateful” for his company’s growth in recent years, and gave credit to his employees in a statement Thursday.
“All their hard work and relentless efforts have put us in an accelerated pace of growth. And, for closing in on accomplishing our goal of becoming a relevant player in the regional food service scene,” Seratto said. “Also, and just as important, is to recognize and appreciate the strong and favorable business environment provided by the state of South Carolina.”
Seratto didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking additional comment.
Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner — along with Gov. Henry McMaster, Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers and Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III — celebrated the expansion, too.
“The expansion of Carolina Food Service proves that our area has the business climate, workforce, infrastructure, community support and belief in our leaders to be successful in Horry County,” Gardner said in a statement. “We are proud of their success and trust in our area.”
For Loris, Harrelson said, Carolina Food Service’s expansion is “huge” and will boost the city’s budget.
“It’s fantastic, it’s really helping the tax base,” he said. “This and the developments we have everything around the industrial park (are) growing, our highways are getting widened…it’s just really huge.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 3:59 PM.
