Pepi Foods marks 25 years with expansion in Dothan

Pepi Foods marked 25 years in business Friday with an open house and formal announcement of the expansion of the company.

The Bainbridge, Ga.-based food service and vending company plans to build a 40,600-square-foot headquarters and distribution center on a 7.8-acre site at the corner of Headland Avenue and Technology Drive.

The expansion will create a minimum of 20 new jobs and up to 50 over a three-year period as the company expands its market. The company currently employs about 100 people with nearly half of those working in Dothan.

Construction could begin in July on the new building with the plant becoming operational by early 2011, according to President Vic Pemberton.

Pemberton says the expansion is both personal – his three children have joined the business – and professional.

“Our heartbeat is to bring value to this marketplace through enriching lives,” Pemberton said. “Our coffee, food, water, and catering does that. When people buy that item, we want it to enrich their lives.”

Having lived and worked in Bainbridge for 30 years, Pemberton said his family started coming to Dothan on a regular basis in the late 1990s when his son, Donnie, was on the basketball team at Troy University.

The Pemberton family often ate dinners in Dothan on the way to Troy. It was that exposure to the town which led the family to open a distribution site and move their kitchen to Dothan in 2006 after buying out Vend Serve.

“Since then we acquired three more businesses operating here that were not local. The decision to grow came about because we have to grow and Dothan is a great place to do it. We looked at Georgia. We looked at Florida, but Dothan and the people we worked with here have made it real easy. Dothan is pro-business,” he said.

“The future is here,” he added. “There are more people in this area and the area is growing.”

Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Parker said it is good to see economic growth in the community.

“Economic activity, maintaining and growing interest in the community gives you a good feeling. We are seeing continued investment which is a sign of prosperity as we pull ourselves out of this economic recession,” Parker said.

“Pepi Foods’ expansion is a big deal for our community. They are a great company and they touch many lives.”

Donnie Pemberton is now the company’s vice president and director of operations. Daughter Jenny Price of Slocomb is marketing director and son David is the financial systems manager.

Aside from the new jobs the expansion brings, the move also will bring Pemberton and his family to the Circle City. The company is also considering opening a branch in Tallahassee, Fla.

Pemberton said the new facility will have state-of-the art kitchen equipment and the most efficient assembly system to ensure high-quality food.

“Time and temperature are key to the food,” Pemberton says, giving a tour of the Kinsey Road operations Friday afternoon.

On the food line, he explains, one person makes one food item at a time to ensure freshness. Pepi uses only the highest quality products, he said, and food handlers have gone through the National Restaurant Association’s certification process.

“We have a good product, good service and great-tasting food,” he said. “Great service comes through great people. We have people who are uniquely committed to serving people.”

The company’s current territory includes the area of Tallahassee west to take in the Florida Panhandle; from Andalusia to just south of Montgomery and east to Georgia, including Columbus and Albany down to Bainbridge.

The company will retain its distribution center in Bainbridge and will vacate the Kinsey Road building when the new plant is built.