Gills acquires packing, cold storage plant

Oxnard CA-based Gills Onions has acquired a 200,000-square-foot packing and cold storage plant in San Joaquin CA to add to production at its Oxnard headquarters. Situated on a 65-acre site, the San Joaquin plant had been used to process fresh-market onions and bell peppers and is Gills' second facility.

Onion processing operations at the new location are expected to start in September 2008. Roughly 100 year-round positions likely will be established, with another 60 seasonal employees needed during the June-November harvest.

Begun in 1983 by brothers David and Steve Gill, the Oxnard operation has about 350 employees and processes more than 50,000-plus tons of onions annually.