Pic’s moving to a bigger spread
A new home for Nelson’s rapidly expanding peanut butter empire is taking shape.
Pic’s Peanut Butter founder Pic Picot is excited about the new Saxton Rd factory that will house expanded production lines and Pic’s Peanut Butter World, which will be a tourist destination when public tours begin in February next year.
Peanut butter production in the new factory is due to be up and running by October, but the tours will have to wait a while longer as offices shift locations and additional building work is finished.
Over 10 years, Picot’s business has grown from selling jars of peanut butter at the Nelson Market to shipping out up to 10 large containers of different nut butters a week across New Zealand and the world.
Picot said the new factory would keep up production to meet the increased demand for the company’s products.
The 2500-square-metre factory building will be more than double the size of the two Pic’s factories that currently operate at separate locations on Elms St, and will be right next to the 1200sq m storage warehouse that is already in use.
Picot said the near-$10 million project was a joint venture between his business and Coman Construction, which has been busy working on the interior building work at the factory.
Picot said the new factory was designed to suit people touring the facility, with a second-floor viewing area for them to see the entire peanut butter making process, from giant silos roasting the nuts to the labelling of jars.
People will also be able to view Pic’s workers making almond and cashew butter in separate parts of the factory.
Between rooms, Picot plans to have an area for people to brush up on their knowledge about Pic’s, with information and facts about the business.
Down a spiral staircase, he said a cafeteria and retail area selling Pic’s food and products would be open to people touring the factory and the public. Picot’s office on the second floor will have a large window so he can wave at visitors below. The huge circle entrance will soon have a glass door installed, covered by the red Pic’s star, and will big enough for the company’s touring toaster caravan to fit through.
Picot said there would be plenty of parking available, and the factory’s location was also close to the Stoke Railway Reserve bike trail.
He said that because the current factory tours, which run three to four times a day with 15 people each, were ‘‘always booked out’’, he would have to play the new tours by ear.
He said the upgrade would be an exciting new attraction for the Nelson region, and also believed it would benefit the community.
‘‘I’m really looking forward to [the factory] being a community facility. I’m really passionate about encouraging people to come to Nelson.’’