MOMENCE, ILL. —Customers of Van Drunen Farms/ VDF FutureCeuticals, Inc. should reach out for updates on how a fire that broke out on the morning of Jan. 2 at the company’s Tuthill facility in Momence will affect orders, said Brad Evers, vice president of sales.
“We understand and appreciate that you might have questions and concerns about how this situation will impact you and your existing purchase orders,” he said Jan. 2. “As this is a developing situation, we are not immediately aware of the specific impacts, but we are working diligently to gather and communicate the details. We anticipate these details will change as we learn more about the scope of the damage.”
The Tuthill facility is a freeze-dried ingredient production and ingredient blending plant that employs 123. Since Van Drunen Farms/VDF FutureCeuticals has over 1 million square feet of manufacturing space in facilities throughout the world, the company will work to implement redundancy and continuity plans and will communicate regularly on the updates, Mr. Evers said.
There were no injuries since no one was in the plant when the fire started. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage have yet to be determined. The fire department of Momence and other fire departments and emergency crews battled the fire until late in the afternoon on Jan. 2. Firefighters returned because of flare-ups after 6 p.m. on Jan. 2 and then twice on the morning of Jan. 3, according toThe Momence Progress-Reporter.
