Kikkoman Foods Jefferson Production Facility, Jefferson, Wisconsin

Kikkoman Foods opened its third U.S. plant on Sept. 18, 2026, a 240,000-square-foot soy sauce and seasonings facility in Jefferson, Wisconsin. The company puts the investment at about $560 million over 10 years, part of more than $800 million it plans to spend in the state including its Walworth operations.

Walworth is why it’s in Wisconsin at all. Kikkoman opened that plant in 1973, one of the first U.S. factories built by a Japanese company, and it’s now the group’s highest-producing soy sauce facility anywhere. Jefferson sits about 37 miles north. Kikkoman chose the site from 64 Midwestern candidates.

Project Scope

The plant takes up a 100-acre parcel and anchors the city’s planned Food and Beverage Innovation Campus. It’ll produce soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and non-soy seasonings for retail, foodservice and food manufacturing customers. The layout is built for flexibility, handling multiple products, viscosities and package types from glass and BPA-free plastic to industrial and bulk sizes.

CRB held the engineering, procurement and construction contract, so one firm carried the job from process design through the building shell. CRB said at the start that the plant would get heavy automation and controls, energy-efficient equipment and room to expand. J.P. Cullen worked under CRB as a subcontractor on concrete foundations and slabs, masonry and structural steel erection. Neither firm has disclosed a contract value.

Kikkoman broke ground on June 12, 2024, and first shipments are due this fall. That’s a run of about 27 months from ceremonial shovels to product, which is quick for a food plant with fermentation tankage.

The sustainability targets are specific: more than 50% lower CO2 emissions, more than 30% less water per unit and a 100% recycling rate by 2030.

Why It Matters

Naturally brewed soy sauce takes months to ferment, so capacity has to be built well ahead of demand. Kikkoman says its North American soy sauce business has grown more than 6% a year on average over the past decade, and Walworth alone couldn’t keep absorbing that.

The public package is modest. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation committed up to $15.5 million in performance-based Enterprise Zone tax credits, and the jobs count is more than 80, counted together with Walworth. For a city Jefferson’s size, landing a recognizable anchor for a food campus is worth more than the headcount, since the next tenant’s site selector will see a working plant instead of a cornfield.

Project Team & Details