Puff Factory to break ground in Odell

Construction begins on the 29,500-square-foot “fruit puff” production and shipping plant Saturday, May 7, with a groundbreaking ceremony at 3030 Lower Mill Drive. Company representatives hope the factory will be up and running by late fall.

A startup business, Puff Factory aims to transform fruit from northwest orchards into packaged, healthy snacks through a patented freeze drying process. The finished “puffs” will source a nascent brand, Know Your Fruit.

Owner Jacqueline Alexander, who also owns nearby Morale Orchards, teamed up with Oregon State University Food Innovation Center to develop the recipe, which is a trade secret.

Alexander said the “single origin” method allows the fruit to be freeze-dried quickly after it’s picked, at the “peak of quality.”

“Single origin gives us total transparency and greater quality control. We know exactly how our fruit is grown so we can ensure that our Puffs are made with the highest quality and most flavorful fruit,” Alexander said.

According to Know Your Fruit’s website, the product begins as whole fruit — ranging from cherries, strawberries and marionberries to apples and pears. Then, the fruit gets sliced into snack-sized bites, flash frozen, crisped and finally packed up for delivery.

The fruit will be sourced by orchards across the Northwest, including the Hood River Valley, and sold across the nation.

The decision to site the plant in Odell, instead of Cascade Locks as formerly planned, was influenced by proximity to neighboring orchards as well as utility and highway access, Alexander said.

“Our location is ideal as we are closer to our growers,” Alexander said. “We believe the quality of our products is a reflection of its origins which is why we are focused on supporting a community of amazing growers.”

Alexander bought the Lower Mill property from Garin Buckles of Alloy Holdings LLC in December, according to county assessment records.

The Puff Factory site, currently bare, sits across from the U.S. Post Office and west of Cardinal Glass. The factory will neighbor the Lower Mill Business Park the Port of Hood River has been developing.

According to Puff Factory’s application and narrative submitted to Hood River County Planning Department last fall, the factory will be two stories tall, with 29,500 square feet of total under-roof space. The footprint will be 26,000 square feet.

The first phase of the plan will require construction of a building to house cold storage room facilities, an area for its fruit processing line, freeze drying equipment and offices.

The building will require ramps for incoming products off-loading and handling and separate ramps for outgoing shipping — Puff Factory would process, package and ship the fruit puffs for export markets, the document says. The list of fruit products, which would be grown in farms around the Pacific Northwest, includes apples, berries, cherries and pear products.

Once fully operational, the facility is expected to require 30-40 full-time employees with various levels of skill, from food sorting and processing labor to skilled management and marketing personnel.

The company plans to have a workforce of about 30 to start, with up to 50 once operations gear up. Alexander suggested that more plants could be built in the future. Puff Factory hopes to blaze a quick trail on its Odell plant, launching the product and selling to customers by fall.