Georgia Ports welcomes MANA Nutrition’s new food processing facility

MANA Nutrition leaders and employees hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, July 17, to commemorate an important new addition to the company’s supply chain.

The 320,000 square-foot warehouse in Pooler is four miles from the Port of Savannah and will enable the company to double its current production while adding new storage capacity. Design-build firm A M King will transform the unfinished warehouse into an advanced food processing facility, which will open in Q1 2025 and produce MANA’s Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and Ready-to-Use Supplemental Food (RUSF). The site will complement the company’s Fitzgerald, Georgia, production and storage facility.

MANA Nutrition makes a peanut butter-based product, fortified with protein, vitamins and milk powder called RUTF in Fitzgerald. The product consists of roasted Georgia peanuts that are processed and packed in the heart of Georgia’s peanut country in the middle of the state. The nonprofit company designed a revolutionary product that does not require cooking, water or refrigeration and has a shelf life of 24 months.

The product is a paste that is packaged in foil packets—similar to ketchup packets and about the size of a cell phone and easily carried in a pocket. RUTF is a meal replacement. Children aged six months to two years eat three packets a day, generally for about six weeks, during which time there are health checkups. MANA Nutrition sells to three entities: USAID, UNICEF and the World Food Programme.

“We want to dedicate about 30% of the facility to the opportunity to expand production with products we don’t presently make at our Fitzgerald facility,” explains MANA Nutrition CEO Mark Moore. “This new facility will be unique due to its vicinity to a port and its ability to scale up production quickly. We shipped over 1,000 containers last year through Savannah. The Port of Savannah is the most efficient and, with our new warehouse, should be approaching the largest port for the export for RUTF in the world. If it is not the biggest food aid warehouse in the world, it is among the largest.”

Georgia Ports President and CEO Griff Lynch said, “We want to congratulate MANA Nutrition for their growth and success on this exciting development that will expand their production and distribution capacity. Thank you for your vision and the important work you do worldwide to prevent hunger. We’re honored to handle your vital product line through our port.”

GPA Board Chairman Kent Fountain said, “We pride ourselves on helping our customers reach important foreign markets with speed and efficiency every day—especially the delivery of food to those in dire need.”