Colorado Premium opens Greeley processing center

GREELEY — Colorado Premium, a processor of specialty meats that serves retailers, restaurant chains and meal-delivery services, has opened its new Greeley processing center.

The facility at 2400 W. 29th St. encompasses 175,000 square feet and specializes in fully cooked sous vide proteins. It will employ up to 275 workers when fully operational.

“Sous vide cooking has increased in popularity as restaurant operators seek to consistently deliver high-quality, great tasting products at scale with less reliance on backhouse labor,” Dan LaFleur, president of Colorado Premium, said in a written statement. “We have built our business by leveraging our culinary and manufacturing expertise to support our customers’ growth initiatives and this facility provides the capacity to do that for many years to come.”

The new plant sits on a 20-acre site that once housed a Kmart store, and later the Greeley Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Colorado Premium purchased the property for $8 million in 2022, and the Greeley City Council in 2023 approved a rezoning and planned unit development to allow for the new use.

Colorado Premium reconfigured the facility for the sous vide and raw-processing production lines. The company’s headquarters and main production facility are located at 2035 Second Ave. in Greeley, and a third processing facility operates in Denver.

“Northern Colorado continues to be a wonderful place to live and do business, and we are thrilled to open this second location in Greeley,” LaFleur said. “The city was a tremendous help as we brought this project to fruition. Our elected officials and city staff have created a great climate for economic development, and they make it easy for businesses to grow and thrive here.”

Zack Henderson, Colorado Premium’s chief revenue officer, said the new facility will foster collaboration with customers.

“Our new facility, with capabilities around searing, par frying, and sous vide cooking for all protein types, provides us multiple options to satisfy our customers’ needs,” Henderson said.

“We have a dynamic development team that works in collaboration with our customers to develop innovative new product options that meet the evolving culinary preferences of their consumers,” Henderson said.

Colorado Premium, a trade name for K2D Inc., was founded in 1998 by LaFleur, a former Con-Agra/Monfort executive. The company employs more than 700 workers.

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