Nestlé downsizes McCloud plant

If Nestlé ever builds a bottling plant in McCloud, it will be 60 percent smaller than the one the company has pursued for the past five years, which would have been the largest in the country. According to the Redding Record Searchlight, the Swiss multinational announced Monday (May 12) that it was dramatically scaling back its plant.

David Palais, who has spearheaded Nestlé’s effort in McCloud, told the paper the change was due primarily to “economics” rather than the considerable local opposition to the plant. He cited rising fuel costs and the recent opening of a new facility in Denver.

Whereas the original plan called for a 1-million-square-foot facility employing 240 people and using 1,600 acre-feet of water a year from local springs, the new design calls for a 350,000-square-foot plant employing 100 people and using 600 acre-feet of water.

Palais said he expected the new plan to take at least a couple of years to be approved and that the company expected to sign a new contract with the McCloud Community Services District.