Snacks targeting health-oriented consumers are another growth sector. One company in the middle of that sector is Calbee America, a subsidiary of a Japan-based Calbee Foods Co., Ltd. The company is moving its Northern California manufacturing operation from Sebastopol, Calif.,

Masanori Yasunaga, president and CEO of Calbee America

to a new facility it is building in Fairfield, just east of Napa. Masanori Yasunaga, Calbee's president and CEO, tells Site Selection through an interpreter that he wanted to keep the company in Northern California, but improve its logistics.
   "First of all, Northern California has a moderate climate throughout the year," Yasunaga says. "The region provides easy access to the mecca of agricultural goods and marine products. The region is best described by its creativity and productivity as represented by Silicon Valley, Napa, and Sonoma. Within the region, the city of Fairfield provides easy access to other parts of the Bay Area and other states. The city provides access to plenty of stable and high quality water, which is proven by the fact that many food product manufacturers are located in the city. Furthermore, the welcoming and gentle nature of the residents in Fairfield convinced us to choose the city for the site for our new facilities."
   The company broke ground on the 40,000-sq.-ft. (3,700-sq.-m.) facility in January and expects a fall completion and February 2007 move-in. It will initially employ 50 with expectations of growing to 100. Calbee says its products promote "nature, wellness and peace of mind." They include Shrimp Flavored Crisps, using California shrimp in a roasting process that reduces the amount of oil used to 20 percent of conventional processes. Another nutrient-packed snack is Saya, made from Canada-grown snow peas.
   Recent scientific studies have pointed toward health benefits derived from cranberries. Ocean Spray, the Massachusetts agricultural cooperative owned by more than 650 cranberry growers, believes that's at least partially responsible for the huge demand for its Craisins sweetened dried cranberries. Demand is so great, tripling sales in three years, that Ocean Spray is adding manufacturing lines on both coasts.
   Ocean Spray is ramping up to quadruple Craisins production with a new $17.8-million manufacturing line at its plant in Markham, Wash., that will add 25 to 30 new jobs and produce about 15 million pounds of Craisins annually. The company also cranked up a similar Craisins line at its Middleboro, Mass., plant in early May.
   But that may not be all. The cranberry specialist is eyeing adding another line, either in Washington, Massachusetts, or at its newly expanded plant in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.    Another expanding niche within the food processing sector is bottled water. One of the latest bottling plants is coming to Morganton, N.C., where Ice River Springs will invest more than $12 million over the next three years as it opens a plant that will employ more than 50. Ice River Springs will also manufacture its own plastic bottles at the facility. The project brings relatively high average weekly manufacturing wages of $630 to an area hard-hit by textile and furniture plant closings.