Zephyrhills wins $200 million food production facility
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 23, 2023

A Brazilian food manufacturer is planning to build a $200 million facility in Zephyrhills, where it will create 600 jobs.

Bauducco Foods has acquired 72 acres of the Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park, where it will build a facility that will produce and distribute its products across the U.S. It is the largest producer of panettones in the world and also makes biscuits, wafers and bread. The property is part of Pasco County's Ready Sites program, which prepares large swaths of land for industrial development.

The facility will create up to 600 jobs.

The city of Zephyrhills will vote on an economic development incentive package worth more than $8 million. Pasco County Commissioners will vote on an incentive deal on Tuesday.

The facility will open in phases. The first phase should be operational by late 2024 or early 2025; the second phase will open by 2028.

Stefano Mozzi, CEO of Bauducco USA, said in a statement that the company was considering seven different states for the production facility. The company has five Brazilian production facilities, and the Pasco facility will be the second U.S. manufacturing plant and warehouse. The first is in Miami.

“Due to the business-friendly environment and the support and professionalism we received from the business development teams in the state, county and the city, as well as the great location, we decided to make Zephyrhills our new and main production hub for the U.S.A. market," Mozzi said in a statement.

Duke Energy and the Pasco EDC had partnered to evaluate and market Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park through two separate site evaluation programs. Dennis Group was the site selection consultant on the project.

“Creating a site readiness program isn’t new in the economic development world. However, what is crucial to making the program successful is having all of your partners and property owners working together with the same mission of creating new opportunities for our community,” Bill Cronin, president and CEO of the Pasco EDC, said in a statement. “The Ready Sites Program has become successful thanks to those public/private partnerships and the commitment and trust of the property owners to market their land for industrial development."